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Wednesday, November 1, 2006 K-STATE AT SALINA FLIGHT TEAM GAINS EXPERIENCE AT REGIONAL COMPETITION MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University at Salina went into the recent Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference with a young team. The team came out of it with experience and results high above expectations, said Micah Westblade, flight team coach. K-State at Salina was host to the Region VI Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference competition Oct. 16-20. The contest is a collegiate-level competition devoted to the skill, safety, sport and education in college flying. It is sponsored by the National Intercollegiate Flying Association. "Team members performed well above expectations for their competitive experience level," said Westblade, a senior in professional pilot, Evergreen, Colo. "A majority of the team had never seen competition before, making every event a challenge." Westblade was the top-scoring male for K-State at Salina, finishing 13th overall out of 71 competitors. He finished third in pre-flight, fourth in SCAN and 13th in short-field approach. Westblade said he enjoys the competition and also the opportunity to network and meet students and the professionals who serve as judges. "It's also very nice to see where in the mix my skill sets put me; a kind of yardstick to measure myself against the market," he said. Janelle Baron, a sophomore in professional pilot, Monument, Colo., was the top-scoring female for the K-State team, finishing second out of eight competitors. She also received K-State at Salina's top pilot honor and finished 10th overall among all competitors. She was fourth in navigation as pilot, ninth in ground trainer-simulator and 11th in computer accuracy-flight computer. "This is the second time I've competed in the Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference. I plan to compete the next two years I'm here as well," Baron said. "I really enjoy being on the flight team because I love competition. I love the people and I love aviation." Baron, who competed in only one event at the competition her freshman year, competed in several events this year. She said it gave her a much better idea of where she needs to be. "I have something more concrete to aim for next year," she said. "I'm really excited for the future. We have a young team and enthusiasm, and now we have experience to go along "The competition gave us a chance to test ourselves against other top aviation programs and prepare us for hosting the competition in the future," said Marlon Johnston, head of the department of aviation at K-State at Salina. "Our facilities, the support of the Salina Municipal Airport, and our central location in the country combine to provide the premier venue and underscores K-State's position as a leading aviation program." K-State at Salina hosted the national Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference competition in 2005, 1999 and 1998, and also was the host to the regional competition in 2002. Along with K-State at Salina, teams competing in this year's competition were from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, University of Central Missouri, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, Oklahoma State University, and Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology. Ground events included pre-flight inspection, aircraft recognition, ground trainer, computer accuracy and navigation-related events. K-State at Salina's simulator was used for the ground trainer event. Flight events included short-field precision landing, power-off precision landing, cross-country navigation and message drop. During the power-off precision and short-field landing events, students are charged with landing on a chalk line on the runway. With the power-off landing, pilots essentially glide right in to the landing. During the message drop, a pilot and drop master work together to drop messages from 200 Other members of the K-State team, all professional pilot majors unless otherwise noted, and their competition placements, if earned, included: Robert Penner, senior, Ingalls; Nick Green, junior, Lawrence; Eric Timberlake, freshman, Overland Park, 10th in message drop; Keith Bertels, sophomore, St. Marys, fourth in navigation as safety observer; Cody Honeyman, senior, Seneca, 18th in aircraft recognition; Matt Aldrine, freshman in aviation maintenance, Topeka, eighth in pre-flight; Jeremy Mosier, senior, Towanda, 14th in aircraft recognition; and Tony Paolucci, freshman, Wichita, 16th in aircraft recognition. From out-of-state: Hall Lewallen, freshman, Gilbert, Ariz., 14th in short-field approach; Brandon Welch, sophomore, Los Angeles, Calif.; and Brian Koester, sophomore, Ankeny, Iowa, 10th in message drop. From out-of-country: Yuki Narita, senior, Japan, 14th in computer accuracy-flight computer and 13th in SCAN. |