The flight simulator at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in Queens is used to give students an authentic flying experience as they train to be pilots.

"They practice many different aspects of flying here before they go out actually to the airplane, so it gives them a little preview and a little extra help when it comes to their flight training," said flight instructor Bryan Arias, a Queens native who is also a Vaughn graduate.

Vaughn College was founded in Newark in 1932, but made its way to Queens nine years later — the idea of a certain mayor who now has an airport named for him.

"Fiorello LaGuardia was great friends with our founders, and he said 'I'm going to build up this little airport across the street and I need a training school,' so we came here in 1941," said Sharon DeVivo, the president of the college.

Since then, students have been learning pretty much everything connected to aviation. The school has an air traffic control program, where students work on a simulator like the one used by the Federal Aviation Administration for its air traffic controller training program in Oklahoma City.

Instructor Roy Kennis was a controller for 33 years, and says there has been a shortage in the position for decades.

"The FAA has got to step it up in terms of hiring more applicants, and we are trying to get them into the pipeline right here at Vaughn College," Kennis said.

The same goes for aspiring pilots to fill that shortage, and other positions related to aviation, including engineering. Vaughn has a successful robotics team lead by engineering majors, too.

DeVivo says she has never seen the demand so high for aviation industry skills in her 27 years at Vaughn.

"We will not produce enough maintenance technicians, pilots, air traffic controllers, engineers. All of those fields are in desperate need of talent, and so it's an exciting opportunity," DeVivo said.