Air warrior, UND alum jets in for visit
Navy Lt. Matt Enerson, UND ’12, pilots his F/A-18E Super Hornet to the airport where he first learned to fly: GFK
By Mackinney Supola
This past weekend, UND graduate, former Certified Flight Instructor and now U.S. Navy Lt. Matt Enerson paid a special visit to UND Flight Operations at Grand Forks International Airport.
Enerson arrived at GFK mid-afternoon Saturday in his F/A-18E Super Hornet, where he was greeted upon his landing by dozens of excited aviation students. This was Enerson’s second visit to UND in an F/A-18E, with his first being back in 2019.
At the event, UND students had the chance to talk with Enerson and hear about his time as a student and CFI at UND, plus his service in the Navy. The F/A-18E stayed parked on Bravo Ramp until midafternoon the following day, when Enerson departed. Students gathered again to take photos, ask questions, and watch the Top Gun–style departure as Enerson took off and headed back to California.
UND Aerospace thanks Lt. Enerson and the U.S. Navy for giving aviation students the chance to meet him, talk with him and get an up-close-and-personal look at the Navy’s all-weather, supersonic, twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, the F/A-18E.
About the author:
A certified flight instructor, Mackinney Supola is working toward bachelor’s degrees in Commercial Aviation and Communication at UND. She’s currently a marketing intern in the Dean’s Office at the University’s Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences.
