Student aviators from SOA compete nationally

Flying high — Students on the flight team posed in front of one of the schools’ airplanes. For competitions, the team uses a Cessna 162 SkyCatcher aircraft. Photo provided

Training outstanding aviators and exceptional Christians is the goal of Liberty University’s School of Aeronautics (SOA), but they also seek to prove the quality of their training by competing in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA).

“As the Dean of the SOA, I take a personal interest in promoting, resourcing and supporting the NIFA team. My primary focus is to find ways to provide the resources the team needs in order to compete successfully,” Gen. David Young said.

NIFA tests aviators in a wide variety of events, both on the ground and in the air, according to SOA Flight Team Coach Kyle Dillon. NIFA competitions are held at a regional level across the country. The top two teams then proceed to the national competition, which will be held at Ohio State University this year, according to Dillon.

According to Liberty’s NIFA Flight Team page, the SOA competes in Region X, which includes schools such as Averett University, Virginia Tech University and the United States Naval Academy.

“The Liberty University SOA has won the regional competitions the last seven years in a row. In the last three national competitions, we have placed 15th in 2010, 15th in 2011 and 16th in 2012,” Dillon said.

For flying portions, the SOA NIFA flight team competes in the Cessna 162 SkyCatcher, according to the SOA team page. Dillon assures that flight events are not races or acrobatics, but more precision-based.

Some ground events include aircraft recognition, where students must identify key aspects of an aircraft after viewing it for three seconds, and Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation, when students are given a mock scenario dealing with legal and navigation issues.

Other ground events include Preflight, where an aircraft is tampered with in order for students to assess as many problems as possible in 15 minutes, and Simulator, which tests the students’ ability to navigate a difficult flight on a simulated course, according to Dillon.

Senior aviator Joshua Moerman competes in a wide range of ground events, including aircraft recognition, preflight check and E6B calculation, where students are given a written test and have to use different functions of the calculator. According to Moerman, he also competes in message drop, which has one student flying 200 feet above ground while another drops containers aimed at ground targets.
“Leading up, there is a lot of pressure on us as a team because we are defending our seven-year winning streak,” Moerman said. “The entire student body of SOA is looking at us to go prove to the region that Liberty University is the best and will only get better.”
According to Dillon, some flight events include power-on landings, when competitors must perform two landings and land the aircraft’s main wheels as close to a chalk line as possible and navigation, where students fly to and identify checkpoints using provided coordinates while calculating fuel burn and time en route.

Senior aviator Bryan Ingram competes in SCAN and power-off landings. These contestants have the same objective as a power-on landing but must do so gliding from a specified point in the air.

“Overall, competing in NIFA is an invigorating experience because the competition is there, but so is the support from my teammates,” Ingram said.

In order to qualify, competitors must have a Private Pilot certificate and a current medical certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to the NIFA contestant eligibility rules. Additionally, Dillon states that SOA aviators must qualify in annual try-outs and attend three practices per week, all team meetings and all fundraisers to maintain eligibility.

“The sense of belonging to a team, and knowing that I am representing the SOA, Liberty and Christ, is not only a reward, but a responsibility,” Moerman said.
According to Young and the NIFA website, NIFA dates back to the 1930s.

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