School of Aeronautics NIFA team soars to 19th consecutive Region X title

Liberty University School of Aeronautics’ National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) flight team captured its 19th consecutive SAFECON Region X championship on Oct. 23-26 at Danville Regional Airport,  hosted by  Averett University.

The team, which featured 17 new members on its travel roster of 20 student-pilots, totaled 794 points to place ahead of Averett and the U.S. Naval Academy’s teams, which tied for second with 614 points, followed by Elizabeth City (N.C.) State University at 567 points. Liberty also won the Judges Trophy with 580 points, followed by Averett (401), Elizabeth City (400), and Navy (383).

“The fact that we were able to take a relatively new team and perform as well as we did is a testament to God’s faithfulness and grace and to the work that they’ve done over the past five or six weeks,” said Matthew Hollo (’23), who coached the team alongside Victor Thennes and Maison Kasyanov with Ian Dutkus serving as faculty advisor. “They did a fantastic job. It was really cool to see everyone push each other to improve through a lot of encouragement from one team member to another.”

Liberty won both the Flight Events and Ground Events titles, scoring 436 points to pull away from Navy (407), Averett (379), and Elizabeth City State (317) in the flight events category and 358 points to top Elizabeth City State (250), Averett (235), and Navy (207) in the ground events category.

“Praise God we were able to win both the overall flight and ground events, which was primarily due to the hard work, dedication, and contribution of every team member,” Hollo said.

He was most impressed with the way Liberty’s NIFA team members served as ambassadors for the program and the Lord as they engaged with pilots from competing programs.

“It was really neat to see the team perform well and also just interact with the other flying teams in the competition,” Hollo said. “It is neat in the fact that they get to be lights of the Gospel and get to know people who will one day be their co-workers in the cockpit or on the flight deck.”

Individually, Liberty team members swept the top four positions in the ground trainer division led by seniors Andrew Beck (11,950), Zeke Erickson (12,300), and Jacob Melanson (12,499), followed by junior Ian King (12,615).

Erickson, who is a team co-captain along with King, won the top pilot award with his first-place score of 138 points. Liberty’s tandems of senior David Labarre (pilot) and freshman James Martin (safety observer) finished first in Unlimited Navigation followed by the second-place performance of Erickson (pilot) and King (safety observer).

Senior Bryce Goble placed first in the computer accuracy competition with junior teammate Maddison Simkins taking third, freshman Isabella Harui fifth, and LaBarre sixth.

Senior Harrison Dykes landed in second place in the Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation event with sophomore Chloe Leonard fourth and junior Daniel Piazza fifth. Graduate Nate Brown and Erickson finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Short Field Landing competition after Erickson placed third and junior Braxton Smith fifth in the Power-Off Landing event.

In the Message Drop competition, the tandem of Dykes, who served as dropmaster, and Smith, who was the pilot, placed third with 111.33 points followed by the fourth-place duo of Simpkins (dropmaster) and Goble (pilot) with 113 points.

King, Beck, and Piazza finished third, fourth, and sixth, respectively, in the Aircraft Recognition competition, and freshman Emmitt Snider placed second in the Aircraft Preflight Inspection event.

The team won the Loening Trophy — awarded to the nation’s top overall collegiate flight program — for the fourth time in the last six years after finishing 15th at NIFA’s SAFECON National competition last May in Wisconsin. It will return to that competition May 12-17.

“We are going to keep working, do our best, and see where the Lord takes this team,” Hollo said. “NIFA is an incredible opportunity for students to compete alongside like-minded individuals and high-achieving pilots from other schools around the region and to honor God while competing in the career field they love.”