(WACO, Texas) – Walker Gilbert, of Buda, is ready for the challenge.
Gilbert, a fourth-semester Aircraft Pilot Training Technology student at Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus, will lead the program’s Lonestars flight team as it participates in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association’s Region 4 SAFECON (Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference) 2024 from Oct. 14 to 18 at the TSTC Airport.
Gilbert’s work as captain involves more than leadership.
“I need to make sure the other officers are performing their duties and pick competitors for NIFA,” he said. “We score and we choose based on those scores who will perform the best and get us a first-place medal.”
This year’s competition is scheduled to include TSTC along with LeTourneau University, Louisiana Tech University, Oklahoma State University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma. Competition events are on the ground and in the air and include Message Drop, Preflight Inspection, and Short-Field Landing.
“We are extremely excited to host,” said Elaine Porterfield, an instructor in TSTC’s Aircraft Pilot Training Technology program and a flight team advisor. “Our goal is to continue to progress competitively so that we may once again return to nationals.”
There are 40 students on TSTC’s flight team, but 20 of them will take part in the regional competition.
Caitlyn Townzen, of Fort Worth, is in her first semester in the Aircraft Pilot Training Technology program and her first year of being on the flight team. She will take part in the Message Drop contest, which involves having sound navigation skills.
“I feel good, but I am a little nervous because I have not done this before,” Townzen said.
Waco resident Juan Larrea is a flight team veteran, having been a member when he was a TSTC student in 2023. He is a graduate of the Aircraft Pilot Training Technology program and is now a certified flight instructor at TSTC.
Larrea said he joined the flight team to meet certified flight instructors and commercial and private pilots.
“It’s great for students to get in touch with TSTC’s flying community so everybody does not feel like they are going through it alone,” he said. “Everyone can get together to achieve a common goal.”
Larrea took part while he was a TSTC student in the NIFA Region 4 SAFECON 2023 when it was held in Longview.
“It was great,” he said. “You get to see training from other colleges and universities and see how they do it. It is humbling too because you get to see where everyone is on their training, yet we all come together to compete.”
TSTC last hosted the organization’s regional competition in 2017.
The top three teams will qualify to participate in the organization’s SAFECON 2025 in May in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. TSTC’s flight team qualified for the national competition in 1998, 2006 and 2012.
For more information on the National Intercollegiate Flying Association, go to nifa.aero.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
