SAFECON

Hosted by Ohio State University at the Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK)

Date: May 7th-12th 2007

Hosted by Ohio State University at the Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK)

Date: May 7th-12th 2007

The Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (“SAFECON“) is organized by the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (“NIFA”). NIFA’s focus is promoting aviation safety for student pilots, flight instructors and institutions, and the aviation industry. Their approach is to create aviation competitions for college-level aviation students.

NIFA holds two annual events; the regional and national SAFECON. Strict rules sanction each competition. NIFA updates the rulebook yearly and it includes details about what type of airplane is allowable for competition, and what is not. The rulebook also explains the scoring system. Generally, events during SAFECON competitions are either ground or flight-based. At SAFECON 2007, there will be four flying events, and two ground events. The National Champion Team will be determined by which team accumulates the most points after all the events are concluded. NIFA will determine the SAFECON 2007 “Top Pilot” by whoever has the highest number of points scored in several events. Those events include preflight, ground, navigation, short field landing, and power off landing.

To qualify as a NIFA competitor, a pilot must be full-time student at his or her accredited learning institution. Teams must be current NIFA members, and only one team can compete from the same school. NIFA’s Executive Committee has increased the number of schools that can compete to thirty. A list of those invited to participate in SAFECON 2007 can be found on NIFA’s Web site at http://www.nifa.us/invitations_to_SAFECON_2007.htm.

The rules governing airplanes used in NIFA competitions include that it must be a four-seat, single engine aircraft on wheels. No after-market STOL modifications can be installed on the airplane, and the engine must be 250 hp or less. The full rulebook can be downloaded from NIFA’s Web site.

Ohio State University will schedule practice times for competitors and designate which nearby, alternate airports are available for use by SAFECON pilots.

For more information, visit NIFA’s Web site at http://www.nifa.us/. To contact the SAFECON representative in Columbus, Ohio, e-mail Scott van Ooyen at [email protected]. Let them know you heard about SAFECON on Airplanes.com!