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.