Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s flight teams took home regional championships at two separate events for the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) SAFECON competition. This included the Golden Eagles Flight Team at the Prescott Campus claiming its 40th consecutive Region II title. 

Both teams will compete at the National SAFECON competition from May 10-15 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Held Oct. 13-17 at California Aeronautical University, the Region II competition brought together leading aviation programs, with the Golden Eagles Flight Team facing off against teams from California Aeronautical University, San Jose State University and Mt. San Antonio College. 

The Golden Eagles won both the flight events and ground events championships, finishing with 346 points to secure the competition’s overall top spot.

Jamison Wettergren, the team’s captain, was awarded Outstanding Team Member for Embry-Riddle. The second highest scoring contestant, Wettergren, who is pursuing his master’s degree in Safety Science and joined the Golden Eagles three years ago, came in third for the Top Pilot position.

“I was drawn to the standard that the Golden Eagles Flight team hold themselves to,” Wettergren said.

Wettergren was proud of the team’s performance at regionals.

“Although our crew is what we feel like is very junior, everyone worked together as a team to implement new policies or help each other study,” Wettergren said. “That was the biggest excitement we had coming out of regionals and that’s just going to carry us into nationals.”

Kellan Hoel came in second for the Top Pilot position after multiple tie breaks. He also took first place in the aircraft preflight inspection, power-off landings competition and placed in the top five for several others.

Hoel said he is more motivated than ever to win the Top Pilot award at nationals.

“I always look forward to competition not only to prove what I can accomplish as an individual pilot, but more importantly to be in an environment where teamwork is everything,” Hoel said. “While practicing the week before competition, I enjoyed observing and participating in the communication between pilots about different flying techniques. I think that is what gives this team an advantage over other teams, our ability to communicate what we learn with our other pilots. “

Myles Kofple-Maurer took first place in aircraft recognition and CRM/LOFT with Wettergren, while Brandon Zhang and Kyungmu Min took first place in message drop.

Jonathan Chen beat out the competition in simulated comprehensive aircraft navigation.

“Doing all of this together, as a team, to achieve our shared goal of winning nationals makes it nothing short of an amazing experience,” said Chen, who is on the team for his third year. “Although I achieved first place individually, I loved seeing our team achieve first through fifth place, sweeping the event and getting the maximum number of points possible for the SCAN event. I enjoyed taking the test and am looking forward to what we can accomplish as a team at nationals.”

According to Wettergren, the preparation for nationals has already begun, and the goal is to secure win number 17.

“All of our officers have been discussing and self-reflecting since regionals, and we are continuing to evolve and adapt to the challenges that we overcame and that we are still facing,” Wettergren said.

Eagles Flight Team Earns Regional Title

 

Members of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Eagles Flight Team
The Eagles Flight Team at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach Campus claimed the championship at the Region IX event.

Embry-Riddle’s Eagles Flight Team at the Daytona Beach Campus also claimed the top spot at regionals, winning the Region IX title for over 40 years running.

The team won first place in both ground and flight events at the competition, held Oct. 19-23 at Massey Park Ranch in Edgewater, Florida, near the Daytona Beach Campus. Coach James Hanover said the team competed in simulator events, which are typically only offered at the national level. This experience will help them to prepare for the upcoming competition.

“As coach of the team, I see great improvements in our ground events and see that our new way of training our future competitors is successful,” Hanover said. “These ground event points are crucial for overall competition success and provide a base of points the team will need for the national competition. After being able to review our livestream broadcast of the landing events, we will continue to work on training in strong wind conditions."

First Officer Ethan Hill placed first in power-off landings and was the second top-scoring contestant.

Joseph Burline placed first in short-field landings, first in simulated comprehensive aircraft navigation and third in the ground trainer event. He ranked third for the Top Pilot award. 

Hanover said the team's next step is localized practice on more difficult and complex scenarios to train competitors on what to expect at nationals.