Competition
The SJSU Precision Flight Team competes in up to
2 competitions per year. The first of these competitions is the PCIFA (Pacific
Coast Intercollegiate Flying Association) Regional SAFECON. At the PCIFA SAFECON,
the flight team competes against schools from within NIFA Region II. Region II
includes Colleges and Universities from California, Nevada, and Arizona who have
a flight team. Our most frequent competitors include: Embry-Riddle Prescott,
Mount San Antonio College, Cypress College, and Christian Heritage.
If the flight team places in
the top 2-3 schools at Regionals, then we proceed to the National SAFECON. At
the National SAFECON we compete against over 28 other College and University
flight teams for the title of "National Champions!" The events are the
same at Nationals as they are at Regionals (with a few exceptions), however the
competition is much more intense. While regionals takes place over a 2-day
period, nationals takes just shy of one week to complete!
Events
GROUND EVENTS -
No flight experience is necessary to compete in ground
events.
- E6B - Manual Flight Computer:
In this event, contestants are given a written test consisting of 30-40
questions that require the use of the E6B (or CR2 if you desire). The
questions can be as simple as multiplication, or as complicated as radius
of action problems. Typical questions require mulitple conversions (US to
metric, NM to SM, etc.) in order to come up with the correct answer. The
questions can be both multiple choice or fill-in, but are all equally
challenging since the only tool you can use to solve these problems,
other than a pencil and paper, is your E6B (and no electronic E6Bs
allowed)!!
- SCAN (Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation):
The SCAN event consists of 30-40 questions pertaining to a simulated flight.
The test takes you through flight planning (weight, fuel loads, headings),
enroute navigation, navigation charts, Federal Aviaion Regulations,
weather, and much more! This tests a pilots overall ability to plan a
successful cross country flight. Many have compared this test to the
Commercial Pilot FAA written test as they are similar in scope.
- ACID (Aircraft Identification):
If you can spot a Russian cargo plane from miles away then this event is
for you! In the ACID event contestants are shown a slide picture of an
aircraft for 3 seconds and then are given 15 seconds to identify the make,
model, and nickname of that aircraft. The first section of this test is
multiple choice, however the last 5 or so questions are fill-in. What
makes this event challenging is that most of the slides are not pictures of
the entire aircraft, but of ceratin parts (a cockpit, wing, landing gear,
etc.). Many of the aircraft in the test are foreign made, which adds even
more to the difficulty of the event.
- Simulator Proficiency:
The Simulator proficiency event is one of the most challenging events in the
SAFECON, but also one that can refine your instrument skills beyond
compare. During the simulator event, contestants fly a predetermined
pattern in the sim while holding specific altitudes, airspeeds, and
headings. A computer scores the event and points are added to the
contestants score for each and every deviation from the pre-determined
path which results in the contestant with the lowest score winning the
event. After competeing in this event you will notice that precise
instrument flying becomes almost second nature.
- Pre-Flight:
Pre-flighting an aircraft is one of the most important things that you do
to ensure a safe flight, that's why this event is so important. During the
event contestants are given 15 minutes to inspect an aircraft and report
any items that make the aircraft unsafe and/or unairworthy. The items may
be as obvious as a blown tire, or as subtle as a missing piece of safety
wire. This event will prepare you for making competant and extensive
pre-flights of your aircraft above and beyond what the average pilot can
do.
- Message Drop:
This event has to be one of the most fun in each SAFECON. How could opening
the window on the airplane, sticking your head out, making a 200ft pass
above the runway, and droping a message container out of the aircraft not
be fun! The object of the message drop event is to get two balsa wood
containers as close to the ground targets as possible, which is not as easy
as it sounds. While we are out here to win, we seem to have fun no matter
what when this event rolls around.
- Precision Taxi:
The precision taxi event is another of those fun events that we participate
in at the SAFECONs. This event counts towards the final team
standings and attracts a lot of enthusiasim. The goal of the event
is to taxi the aircraft through a series of "gates," through which you place a
specific tire, in the shortest amount of time. To make things more
difficult, the "gates" are not much wider than an aircaft tire and actual
get smaller as you go through them. Any contestant can compete in this
event since a pilot's liscence is not required to taxi an airplane.
- CRM-LOFT (Crew Resource Management-Line Oriented Flight
Training):
In recent years CRM has become the buz of the airline industry. Competing
in the CRM event prepares the contestant not only for life in the airline
world, but also for dealing with situations that arise in all forms of
aviation. During the event, two contestants act as a crew of an airplane
(usually a B-200 King Air) and have to deal with situations as they
arise. The contestants are judged on how they work together to solve the
problem and how well they use all the resources available. This event has
only existed for three years and SJSU has won two out of three years!!
FLIGHT EVENTS -
Private license or higher required.
- Short-Field (Power-on) Landing:
While earning your Private Pilot's certificate, you flight instructor taught
your how to make short-field landings within 200 feet of your intended
target, we will teach you to land within 0 feet! In the short field
landing event, the contestant must land the aircraft as close as possible to
a "land" line. For every foot that the contestant is off of the line, a
point is added to the contestants score. The contestant, if unable to land
on the line, must land the aircraft within 200 feet long, and 100 feet
short of the line or else a massive penalty is added to the score. To add
to the difficulty, once the contestant reduces power he/she may not add any
more power until touchdown and must touch down in a full stall with
full flaps. They are also judged on making a perfect traffic pattern.
All legs must be perfectly straight and within set limits no matter what
the wind conditions are. Mastering this event gives the contestant
precise skills for handling his/her airplane.
- Power-off Landing:
Being able to safely land an aircraft that has lost engine power is a skill
that we all strive for. After mastering the Power-off landing event, the
loss of engine power will be a walk in the park. The Power-off landing
event is very similar to the Power-on landing event with the exception
that, from abeam the landing line, you must glide the aircraft to a soft
landing on the line. The same standards for a precise pattern as in the
Power-on event remain for the Power-off landing, so precision flyling is
a must.
- Navigation:
Using only a chart, timer, and the aicraft's compass can you find where a
set of powerlines cross a country road? And can you cross over that
point at the exact second you planned while back at the airport? If you
compete in the Navigation event, not only can you do this with ease, but
you can plan your fuel burn right down to 0.1 gallons! During the
navigation event contestants are scored on their ability to find specific
points on the earth's surface (charted or not) and to fly over those
points at the exact second they had planned. For every second that they
are off, points are added to their score (lowest score wins). After
landing the aircraft is re-fueled and, if the fuel burn is not within
specified limits of the estimated fuel burn, points are added to the
contestants score.
- Instrument Flight:
The Instrument Flight event takes place in two parts: a written test, and
a flight check. The writen test consists of several fill in questions
dealing with weather, federal regulations, and general instrument
procedures. After the ground test has been completed the contestant
begins the flight portion of the event. During the flight portion of
the event the contestant is judged not only on precise flight, but also
adherance to procedures and clearances. The contestant who does the best
on both portions of the event is declared the winner of the Instrument
flight event.