ST. LOUIS - The Flying Billikens from the Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science will host the 2025 National Intercollegiate Flying Association Competition's Region VI and VIII SAFECON event Oct. 13-18 at the St. Louis Downtown Airport.
Saint Louis University's hangar at the St. Louis Downtown Airport. Photo by Sarah Conroy.
“This will be a bigger event than when we hosted in 2023 because we’re hosting a super-regional,” said coach Jack Schwarz. “Schools from Regions VI and VIII in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association will join us in St. Louis to compete in this year’s newly combined regional event.”
Each Region will continue to score separately despite the joint event. Ten schools are expected to participate, including schools from Illinois and Indiana, joining SLU's region of schools from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota.
“We expect almost 150 student competitors to be demonstrating their skills and knowledge this week, with almost 30 airplanes being brought in by these teams to compete in the flying events,” Schwarz said.
The teams will compete in a variety of aviation exercises including navigation, short-field landing, power-off landing, message drop, ground training, aircraft recognition, computer accuracy and instrument flight rules. Winners will be announced at a banquet on Saturday, Oct. 18.
The Flying Billikens executive student board includes Brendan Stoll, Sydney Nimerick and Sehwan Park.
The National Intercollegiate Flying Association was formed to develop and advance aviation education; promote, encourage and foster aviation safety; promote and foster communications and cooperation between aviation students, educators, educational institutions and the aviation industry; and provide an arena for collegiate aviation competition.
The national competition will take place May 18-23, 2026, at the Quad Cities International Airport.
About the School of Science and Engineering
Saint Louis University formed the School of Science and Engineering in 2022 to better meet the future needs of its students and faculty. The school brings together select departments from the College of Arts and Sciences — chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, and physics — with the former Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology. To learn more about the School of Science and Engineering, visit slu.edu/science-and-engineering.
