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Landings

Three lines comprise "The Box": zero, 100 feet short and 200 feet long. The goal? Land as close to the zero line as possible. Land outside the box? You lose. Land with improper crosswind correction? Penalty. Bounce? Penalty. The closer you get to the line, the fewer points you get — just like golf!

You get the idea. Precision landings are our most challenging and exciting event.

There are two precision landing events that you can participate in:

• Short Field Approach and Landing (Power-Ons)
• Power-Off Landing

As the names suggest, they differ mostly in whether or not the pilot has power available to them while landing.

Navigation

Tired of planning or flying a mundane cross-country flight? The navigation event is similar to a small cross-country flight, however, every second you write on that NavLog matters now!

This event is all about accuracy. The goal here is to fly a given route as close to your flight plan as possible. Time en-route, leg distance, chart coordinates, airspeed, fuel used — everything has to be precise and accurate. Oh, and you have 30 minutes to plan the flight with paper charts. Sharpen your pencil!

In flight, every second counts. A GPS receiver is placed in the aircraft so judges can see the route flown by the aircraft to judge and score points. Are you ready to take on the challenge?

Message Drop

Have you ever thought about throwing something out of the aircraft? Now you have the chance! Don't worry, we read 14 CFR 91.15 — thoroughly. The goal of the message drop event is to throw a "bomb" from 200 feet AGL and hit a target on the ground below.

It requires perfect coordination between the pilot and the drop master to ensure the bomb falls at exactly the correct spot. Both must consider wind, prop wash, the speed of the aircraft and how and when the bomb is released. A second early or late could result in missing the target by more than 50 feet!

IFR SIM

In a simulator, a competitor flies an instrument cross country, conducts approaches, flies holding patterns and demonstrates other instrument flight procedures. Competitors must be instrument-rated to participate.

CRM/LOFT

Whether you are aspiring to become an airline pilot, a corporate pilot or to work in the military, crew resource management is the most important element for a safe and efficient flight deck environment. It is heavily emphasized in the aviation industry because of the multiple benefits it brings.

In teams of two, competitors fly a simulated multi-engine flight in a crew environment. This event is meant to test teamwork and piloting skill in a simulated high-stress environment. Competitors must have a multi-engine rating to participate.

Computer Accuracy

Computer Accuracy is an event where competitors use a manual flight computer to solve flight-related mathematical problems. They range in difficulty, from simple unit conversions to complex radius of action calculations. This is a challenging event that requires great speed, precision and a mastery of the flight computer. Join us and experience the excitement this event brings — you will definitely not regret it!

Aircraft Recognition

The Aircraft Recognition event will challenge you to identify the many thousands of airplanes and rotorcraft built and produced in the years following World War II. Unlike the SCAN and COMPACC ground events, aircraft recognition will not only put your memory skills to work but also challenge you to use visual and spatial analysis skills as you study and learn the many unique aircraft designs from around the world.

The typical NIFA test format will consist of a series of 60 photos and an answer sheet of multiple choice or write-in answers for each photo. The tests will display a wide range of aircraft and often highlight the design nuances of each one. For those of you who can appreciate the beauty of aircraft from single-engine Cessnas to Boeing 707s and B-52s, or if you can tell the difference between a 737 and an A320 in a heartbeat, this event is for you!

Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation

Are you ready for your end of course checkride? Imagine the Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation (SCAN) event as if it is a checkride, where you are given a cross-country scenario, sectional chart, weather products, aircraft performance chart and more in order to answer questions regarding the flight.

The competitor's main responsibility is to be familiar with the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) and know how to interpret given weather products, or look for the correct information from the aircraft performance charts. There will always be multiple legs for the cross-country, so you are very likely to do the performance calculations more than once.

Preflight

Without any checklist, a competitor of this event has 15 minutes to correctly identify at least 30 discrepancies on the “bugged” airplane while operating in a proper preflight flow. Note that any plane can be used, such as a Cessna 210 from the 2015 National SAFECON. Remember ATOMATOFFLAMES? ARROW? This event will make memorizing them worthwhile.

A competitor is given a pattern to study and fly in a simulator. There are altitude, airspeed and heading changes. The competitor is scored based upon the accuracy of the pattern and how much he/she deviates in altitude, airspeed and heading. If you started your instrument course here in Embry‑Riddle, it is similar to those pattern ABC you first fly — just more complicated!

CFI Event

Love teaching? This event requires competitors to teach a certain maneuver, such as the Emergency Descent, to the judge. Competitors are graded based on how thorough their lesson is and how prepared they are. Competitors must hold a CFI certificate to participate.

In May 2025, the team competed in in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, placing sixth overall out of 30 teams! For many on the team, it was their first time at a national competition, and they were excited to put their skills to the test against such a high standard! Now that they’ve been there and done that once, they’ll be back for more in 2026!

Below is a list of our competitors that placed in each category. Congratulations to them!