A team of aviation science students from Saint Louis University’s School of Science and Engineering placed high enough this weekend to secure a spot in the 2024 National Intercollegiate Flying Association Competition. The Flying Billikens from SLU’s Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science hosted the Region VI SAFECON event Oct. 16-20 at the St. Louis Downtown Airport.

The Flying Billikens placed third overall and third in both ground and flight events. Top scoring contestant honors went to Hudson Pettit, tenth place; Sebastian Valenzuela, twelfth place; and Darren Mushkin, 17th place.

Winners were announced at a banquet on Friday. 

“The NIFA Region VI competition was a great example of a student flying competition at its best,” said Steve Magoc, professor and chair of Aviation Science at SLU. “Our Flying Billikens’ performances provide an example of the excellent flight training received at Saint Louis University’s Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science.”   

Region VI includes Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, and Wisconsin schools. Competitors at the event included Hesston College, Kansas State University – Salina, Minnesota State University – Mankato, University of Central Missouri, University of Dubuque, University of Nebraska – Omaha, and University of North Dakota. More than 100 students from the eight schools participated in the event. 

The teams competed in a variety of aviation exercises. Competitors were challenged in events which included navigation, short-field landing, power-off landing, message drop, ground training, aircraft recognition, computer accuracy and instrument flight rules. 

“I'm incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished this year,” said coach Jack Schwarz. “They committed themselves to early morning flight practices as well as late evening ground practices and put in a lot of hard work. In addition to that, they took on the challenge of hosting the competition at home this year and even secured a sponsorship. All of that hard work has paid off with a bid to Nationals!” 

Individual honors were awarded to the following Flying Billikens:

Traditional Navigation

• Hudson Pettit and Troy Ettenson, first place
• Sebastian Valenzuela and Sarah Jelliss, second place
• Darren Mushin and Harman Chauhan, fourth place

Message Drop

• Savannah Baker and Sarah Jelliss, second place

Power-off Landings

• Hudson Pettit, ninth place

Preflight

• Savannah Baker, fourth place
• Gavin Monthye, eighth place
• Sarah Jelliss, ninth place

Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation (SCAN)

• Sebastian Valenzuela, ninth place
• Hudson Pettit, tenth place

Simulator

• Timothy Pipal, sixth place

The Flying Billikens also include Jongchan Park, Santino Sartoris, Amaad Bin Waheed, Harman Chauhan, Woo Cheon Park, Timothy Long, Raleigh Fisher, Chris Brault, SungMin Rhee and Bryce Waldron. The team is coached by Jack Schwarz, Andre Santa Maria and David Albright.

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 13-18 in Janesville, Wisconsin. 

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.