Student pilots from colleges across the nation test their skills as the Ohio State airport hosts the 53rd annual National Intercollegiate Flying Association Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference this week.

From 27 schools, members of NIFA will compete in events such as landing, navigation and flight simulation. The OSU team consists of 12 students and three coaches from the Department of Aviation.

This week’s competition presents the winners of the regional conferences with a chance to take home the national championship.

“This event is the crown of the year,” said Grant Hundley, spokesman for SAFECON.

SAFECON offers a look at what educational institutions are doing to encourage and foster safety in aviation while providing an arena for collegiate aviation competition.

The regional conferences were held in April, and the OSU team took first place. OSU competed with schools from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the Region 3 competition, and the top two or three teams from each region are invited to compete at nationals.

The regional competition is normally held in the fall, but the events of Sept. 11 pushed back the competition. This gave the teams very little time after the regionals to prepare for the national competition.

“There were a lot of restrictions with airspace after (Sept. 11), because they really tightened down on security. It made it hard to practice,” said Brent Hammond, a senior in aircraft systems and the team co-captain.

The OSU flight team is not restricted to students with an aviation background.

“You just have to have an interest in aviation and want to compete in events,” said Laci Watkins, a sophomore in aircraft systems and safety officer for the team.

However, members of the team must participate in the OSU aviation training program. Any student enrolled in the university who is interested in learning to fly can be in the aviation training program.

The program is an additional $18,000-20,000 on top of the cost of OSU tuition and fees.

Hammond said they only allow beginners to do the smaller events until they are used to flying.

“Anyone can come out to a Saturday morning practice and get on our contact list. They teach you everything – even how the plane systems work,” Hammond said.

Practices begin at 9 a.m. and are held at the OSU airport.

While members of the OSU flight team seem to be daredevils, they said there is a feeling of fear the first time you “fly solo” that has to be conquered.

“At first you’re really nervous. Then you’re like, ‘This is really cool’, ” Hammond said.

“I’m actually afraid of heights, but not when I’m in a plane. Once I get up in the air, I always think ‘this is fun’,” Watkins said.

Events include the Thursday power-off landing (landing without power), the Friday short-field event (landing on a short runway) and Saturday’s message drop event.

The team’s only concern about these events is the weather.

With so many clouds, rain and strong winds in the past few days, the team is taking every safety precaution possible to ensure the successful execution of the stunts.

“Flying is mostly about safety. It’s basically hours of boredom with a few seconds of sheer terror,” Hundley said.

Participants will also have a chance to meet and network with airline companies and other pilot scouts that normally attend the conference.

The team is looking forward to one event they consider an OSU tradition.

Members of the team dress in costumes for the aircraft recognition competition, in which the teams are shown a series of slides and are required to identify the aircraft or person.

“The other teams always enjoy seeing what we’ll do next,” Hammond said.