UND Flying Team places second overall at the 2018 National Intercollegiate Flying Association Conference

Congratulations to the UND Flying Team for placing second overall at the 2018 National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON) held at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana this past week. UND earned 423 points while ERAU-Prescott placed first with 544 points and Southern Illinois University placed 3rd with 273 points. Thirty universities from across the country qualified through regional competitions to earn the privilege to compete at the national level, including universities such as Purdue, Ohio State, Kansas State and the Air Force Academy.

Cooper Pallasch, UND Flying Team Co-Captain, was named the Top Pilot in the nation and first in individual scoring at the SAFECON. Teammate and Co-Captain Steve Kinney placed 2nd in overall individual scoring and placed first in Short Field Landings. A huge congratulations goes out to both Cooper and Steve—very proud to have the top two pilots in the nation at UND!!

Additional congratulations go to teammates Steve Roche who placed first in the Preflight competition and third in Aircraft Recognition, Branden Korringa for placing 2nd in Aircraft Recognition and Will Cuteria for placing fourth in the Ground Trainer event.

Congratulations to the UND Flying Team and to Coach Lewis Liang!! Also congratulations and thank you to the Aviation Department and Flight Operations for your support!! . By working together as an organization, the UND Flying Team has captured 16 NIFA SAFECON National Championships and has finished first or second in the nation 29 of the past 35 years!!