UPDATED! LETU 'Sting' Flight Team Ranks 3rd in the Nation in Flight Competition

[ARCHIVED NEWS RELEASE]

06-24-2019

 

LeTourneau University’s “Sting” Precision Flight Team has been informed this week that it placed 3^rd in the nation, not 4^th as previously thought, due to a scoring error at the National Intercollegiate Flying Association SAFECON 2019 flight competition May 13-18.

An erroneous disqualification of LETU student and part-time instructor Benjamin White in the short field landing event at the national flight competition held at University of Wisconsin in Janesville was reviewed and found to be mistakenly applied.  Correcting this error resulted in a 3^rd place overall national finish for LETU.

LETU placed in overall points behind University of North Dakota in first, Southern Illinois University in second, and ahead of last year’s national champion Embry Riddle University—Prescott, which now placed 4th.

In the flight events, LETU also placed 3^rd behind SIU in first, UND in second, and ahead of Western Michigan University, which placed 4^th. 

“Benjamin should have gotten 9^th place and scored an additional 24 points for LETU, which places us in 3^rd place in flight events and overall,” said LETU Chief Flight Instructor and NIFA team coach Jered Lease, who received a letter from NIFA with the good news about 3^rd place finish this week. “Officially in the overall placing, UND had 484 points, SIU had 430 points, ERAU Prescott had 308 and LETU had 290, but with the additional 24 points added to LETU’s score for White’s 9^th place finish, it put us at 314 overall, ahead of Embry Riddle Prescott. To score above this powerhouse is a huge accomplishment!” 

The 3^rd place overall finish is record-breaking for LeTourneau University, which has placed five times in the Top 10, beating last year’s 5^th place overall school record and their 7^th place in 2017. LETU first began competing in NIFA competitions in 2004. LETU’s Sting flight team took 1^st place regionally last October to qualify to compete in nationals.

In the overall scoring, LETU outranked Embry Riddle University—Prescott (4), United States Air Force Academy (5), Western Michigan (6) and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University —Daytona (7).

“I am so proud of this team!” Lease said. “Our success is a testament to this team’s hard work and our program’s focus on fundamental flying skills and back-to-basics approach to flying. God truly blessed the work of our hands, and for that, we're all thankful.                                   

An updated recap is as follows with the White’s short field landing added (highlighted in yellow):

Taking 1^st place in the Instrument Simulated Flight competition was LETU pilot Thomas Alley who also took 3^rd in the in the Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation (SCAN) competition. Following Alley in SCAN were Joshua Kelly at 6^th, Benjamin White at 12^th, Donavon Taves at 71^st, and Erica Swenson at 105^th. Alley took 4^th in the Ground Trainer competition with Erica Swenson following in 23^rd place. Alley took 4^th in the national Top Pilot competition with Benjamin White following in 14^th.

In the Traditional Navigation competition, Benjamin White (Pilot) and James Hulsey (Safety Observer) took 2^nd place, Thomas Alley (Pilot) and Noah Bronner (Safety Observer) took 4^th place, and Jonathan Rurup (Pilot) and David Erickson (Safety Observer) took 6^th place.

In Aircraft Preflight Inspection Noah Bronner took 7^th place while Jonathan Rurup placed 19^th.

In Computer Accuracy James Hulsey took 4^th place, Jonathan Rurup placed 14^th, and David Erickson placed 49^th.

In Crew Resource Management/Line Oriented Flight Training Jonathan Rurup (Pilot) and Thomas Alley (Navigator) took 4^th place.

In Short Field Landing Joshua Kelly took 7^th place, Benjamin White took 9^th, and Thomas Alley followed taking 12^th place.

Regional Top Pilot awards went to Benjamin White.

Receiving the Outstanding Team Member Award for LETU was Silas Stanton.

LETU placed 10^th for Judges Trophy competition.

Other results for LETU were as follows:

Message Drop

Silas Stanton (Dropmaster) and Jeffery Rosinbaum (Pilot) placed 20^th

Simon Awcock (Dropmaster) and Benjamin White (Pilot) placed 57^th

Donavon Taves (Dropmaster) and James Hulsey (Pilot) placed 64^th

Keenan Yannibelli (Dropmaster) and Joshua Kelly (Pilot) Placed 71^st

David Erickson (Dropmaster) and Erica Swenson (Pilot) placed 88^th

Aircraft Recognition

Silas Stanton placed 16^th

Simon Awcock placed 30^th              

Keenan Yannibelli placed 42^nd

Jeffrey Rosinbaum placed 78^th

Power Off Landing

Thomas Alley placed 23^rd

Joshua Kelly placed 31^st

Erica Swenson placed 94^th

James Hulsey placed 104^th

Top Scoring Contestant of the top 355 ranked

Thomas Alley, 4^th

Benjamin White, 19^th

Jonathan Rurup, 20^th

Joshua Kelly, 21^st

James Hulsey, 59^th

Noah Bronner, 69^th

Silas Stanton, 106^th

Jeffery Rosinbaum, 145^th tie

David Erickson, 145^th tie

Simon Awcock, 145^th tie

Keenen Yannibelli, 145^th tie

LeTourneau University is the Christian polytechnic university in the nation where educators engage students to nurture Christian virtue, develop competency and ingenuity in their professional fields, integrate faith and work, and serve the local and global community. LETU offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs across a range of disciplines and delivery models at LETU’s residential campus in Longview, Texas, hybrid options at centers in the Dallas and Houston areas and fully online programs. For additional information, visit www.letu.edu.

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