Flight Team soars at Regionals

By: Timothy McLaughlin

Posted: 11/2/06

Bridgewater State College's Flight Team participated in National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) regional competition at Schenectady Airport in Schenectady, New York on October 20 and 22.

The flight team is an aviation group that competes in both flying events and written examinations. The current team consists of one senior, one junior, and five sophomores for a total of seven members. The two captains are veteran members Matt Elia, a sophomore, and Bill Paquin, a senior. There were nine events, four flying and five ground events, spot landing, competition navigating and written exams.

The pilots must put in time to prepare for the competition.

"One challenge is staying on top of our studying to be prepared for the events," said Paquin.

The team saw improvements at the competition.

"On the navigation event, the team overall vastly improved scores and times at which the event was completed," said Elia.

The team competed against regional members consisting of colleges with aviation studies with in New England, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey. The college is in region seven whose members include Daniel Webster College, Mercer County Community College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Schenectady Community College, Dowling College and Dutchess Community College.

Nearly ninety aviation colleges across the country are associated with NIFA and participate in these events. Bridgewater State College flight team was funded by Delta Connection Academy and Bridgewater State College.

The 2006 regional team is waiting for the NIFA council to announce whether BSC has a bid to the national competition in Ohio.

"For nationals, we are looking for pilots of all ages so that we can specialize in events and make the team more successful," said Paquin.

Beyond the competition, this event was used by the pilots as a learning experience.

"We meet a great deal of pilots to network and to learn tricks of the trade," sophomore Craig Mutz said. "I got to visit the aviation museum and had a great time over all being at Schenectady."

Elia thought that the team had a good time and that the experience was valuable.

"It's a good learning experience for people interested in aviation as a career," said Elia. "The competition is demanding. We had a lot of fun."

NIFA is a non profit organization dedicated to advancing training and aviation education for college students through competition.

The National Intercollegiate Flying Association was formed in 1959.