Hornet Flight Team wins regional competition

The University’s Hornet Flight Team recently showed its aviation skills by winning the Oct. 28 Region VII, National Intercollegiate Flight Association (NIFA) competition concluded at the New Bedford Regional Airport Bridgewater (New Bedford, MA), hosted by Bridgewater State University.

The Hornet Flight Team Awards included winning the first-place awards in three categories – Competition Safety, the Judges Trophy, and the SAFECON Championship

The Hornet Flight Team consisted of Sam Strauss (Team Captain), Michael Rogers (Team Safety Officer), Colin Twardus, Kyle Longhany, Jay Shah, Christopher Guerra-Morales, Nick Jones, Dante Russell, Shelbe Jarrett, Gabrielle Chuke.  The coaches were Neal Thompson and Roger Kruser.

The Hornet Flight Team will compete at SAFECON on May 18-23 (2020) at the Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The NIFA exists to serve as a forum, competitive and non-competitive, for collegiate aviators. Flight Schools compete at the regional level with the top three winning teams invited to compete at the national competition — the Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference or SAFECON national championships, an aviation skills competition that pits some of the best and brightest young pilots from around the country against one another.

The National Championship is the premier collegiate flight competition with over 500 competitors from more than 30 schools. Young pilots from across the country will compete for awards in a variety of aviation skills, including landing, navigation, preflight, flight planning, crew based simulations, safety, sportsmanship, and more.