Oronoco, Minn., student part of UND Flying Team victory at regional contest

Danny Hong contributed to strong showing for 15-student squad; poised for national championship bid

Danny Hong, a commercial aviation student from Bemidji, Minn., helped the University of North Dakota Flying Team take home first place at the Region VI SAFECON Contest, hosted by the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) on Oct. 21-23 at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

UND’s 15-student team put together a strong showing as it won eight of the 10 events comprising the annual competition.

Among those 15 students, four were among the top ten scoring pilots across the competition, with Co-Captain Jebadiah Sussenbach earning the distinction of top pilot.

At SAFECON competitions, pilots’ skills are tested in comprehensive fashion, from pre-takeoff to landing, including events such as aircraft recognition and pen-and-paper flight navigation. This past weekend marked the return of flight-based events following the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous season’s events were held virtually, which marked a first for the century-old NIFA competition.

Other schools meeting up in Mankato, Minn., for the Region VI “airmeet” were: University of Nebraska, Omaha, Kansas State University Polytechnic, St. Louis University Parks College, University of Central Missouri, University of Dubuque, Hesston College and host Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Full results for the Region VI contest can be found on the NIFA website.

According to NIFA’s records, UND has won nearly every competition since the regional event’s conception in the early 1970s. On the national stage, UND has maintained an equally impressive standing, having placed first or second in 31 of the past 37 years.

This year’s national competition will be hosted by The Ohio State University in Columbus in May 2022.

Lewis Liang, head coach and assistant professor of aviation, said the UND Flying Team “worked hard and came together when pressed into competition during a difficult time,” following the death of John Hauser, a commercial aviation student at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences.

“I’m extremely proud of all of their accomplishments, both individually and together, as a team,” said Liang of the student roster. “This is a young team, with only three members having competition experience prior to this regional meet.”

Hong is joined on the 2021-22 UND Flying Team by Matthew Cleveland (Sycamore, Ill.), Ryan Fitzgerald (Albuquerque, N.M.), Jie Gao (Guangzhou, China), Bailey Harris (Bemidji, Minn.), Caroline Kelley (Lakeville, Minn.), Max Langerud (Worthington, Minn.), Cobi Pimental (Kailua, Hawaii), Aaron Schwartz (Buffalo Grove, Minn.), Jaspinder Singh (Vestal, N.Y.), Jebadiah Sussenbach (Edina, Minn.), Joe Taylor (New Prague, Minn.), Alex Viedma (Edina, Minn.) and Carson Wells (Bristol, Ind.).

Image for download:

2021-22 University of North Dakota Flying Team (370KB)

From top to bottom, left to right: Danny Hong, Bailey Harris, Joe Taylor (Co-Captain), Jebadiah Sussenbach (Co-Captain), Cobi Pimental, Alex Viedma, Aaron Schwartz, Max Langerud, Matthew Cleveland, Jaspinder Singh, Ryan Guthridge (Coach), Ryan Fitzgerald, Jie Gao, Mikayla Weiss, Caroline Kelley, Carson Wells (Safety Officer), Lewis Liang (Coach)

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