Dr. Fred Pestello, President | St. Louis University
Dr. Fred Pestello, President | St. Louis University
The Flying Billikens, representing the Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science at Saint Louis University, will host the 2025 National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) Competition's Region VI and VIII SAFECON event from October 13 to 18 at the St. Louis Downtown Airport.
“This will be a bigger event than when we hosted in 2023 because we’re hosting a super-regional,” said coach Jack Schwarz. “Schools from Regions VI and VIII in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association will join us in St. Louis to compete in this year’s newly combined regional event.”
Although both regions will participate together, each region will continue to score separately. The competition is expected to include ten schools, with participants coming from Illinois and Indiana as well as Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota.
“We expect almost 150 student competitors to be demonstrating their skills and knowledge this week, with almost 30 airplanes being brought in by these teams to compete in the flying events,” Schwarz said.
The students will compete in several aviation exercises such as navigation, short-field landing, power-off landing, message drop, ground training, aircraft recognition, computer accuracy and instrument flight rules. Winners are scheduled to be announced at a banquet on Saturday, October 18.
Brendan Stoll, Sydney Nimerick and Sehwan Park serve on the executive student board for the Flying Billikens.
The National Intercollegiate Flying Association aims to develop and advance aviation education; promote aviation safety; foster communication between students, educators and industry professionals; and provide opportunities for collegiate aviation competition.
The national level of the competition is scheduled for May 18-23, 2026 at Quad Cities International Airport.
Alerts Sign-up