Auburn’s War Eagle Flying Team (WEFT) soared past its opponents in the regional competition, placing second and qualifying for the national competition in late April hosted by National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA).
One of the lesser known Auburn sports team, the WEFT compete in multiple air and ground events such as competitive landing, navigation, aircraft inspection, flight simulators and one event which involves dropping an object on a target while flying over the airport.
Complete with forty-two members, the WEFT hopes to represent Auburn in a successful national showing, especially with the achieved improvement it has seen in the last few years.
WEFT president and senior at Auburn University Hampton McDonald said, “My first year at Auburn we placed fourth in regionals…so we didn’t even qualify for the national competition. The previous year, Auburn qualified for nationals but were somewhere near the bottom of the ranking.”
These losses didn’t deter the WEFT, only pushed them further. During McDonald’s sophomore year, the team placed third at regionals and twelfth in the nation; his junior year, second in regionals and ninth in the nation; his senior year, second at regionals and possibly even better at nationals.
McDonald owed the progression in the team’s success to multiple components, particularly the previous team leaders’ passion which seeped into the current members, keeping them dedicated to the team’s goal of taking home a national title.
“They put the seeds in the ground for the team to have some really impressive growth over the next few years,” McDonald said. “As I moved into leadership, I was working with an awesome team of officers and really dedicated members that wanted to see the team perform well and that has made a huge impact on how we’ve done.”
McDonald also owed success to the donations and support the team receives from alumni and the surrounding community, especially since the WEFT is not a university-funded team. Auburn University provides the airplanes themselves, but as far as financing the operations, the WEFT pays for the remaining expenses.
According to McDonald, self-financing is not the standard for other NIFA schools. Most have paid coaches, paid staff and their own airplanes. However, McDonald still stressed the positivity that emerges in such a situation.
“We’re at a somewhat competitive disadvantage there because we don’t have those resources, but because we’re student-run and student-led, it creates an atmosphere where everyone is dedicated to the same goal,” McDonald said.
The WEFT’s national achievements have aided in the growth of the aviation department and the growing interest in the team itself from donors, community members and future students.
Bill Hutto, Acting Chair of the Department for Aviation, said the trend in growing numbers will only continue with the flying team’s national success. Hutto also said a flying team adds much value to the student learning experience, making it an even greater asset to the university and its students.
“It allows them the opportunity to sharpen their skills in a competitive but fun environment,” Hutto said. “They are also able to make friends and develop valuable relationships with fellow students and mentors around the country.”
McDonald’s own experience with the team demonstrates Hutto’s beliefs. With an internship with Delta this past fall and a future flying for commercial airlines after graduation, McDonald’s aviation dreams are far from over.
McDonald’s passion for flying sprouted at a young age.
“I’m from Atlanta so I had airplanes flying over my house all the time,” he said. “I remember I was seven or eight years old seeing airplanes flying over the house and I thought that looks cool…and now I’m here.”
At thirteen years old, McDonald began taking flying lessons and after his sixteenth birthday, flew solo for the first time.
“I’ll never forget that one,” McDonald said. “Barely knowing how to drive and I’m flying an airplane.”
With an already developed passion and dream, McDonald said the WEFT fit perfectly into his plan.
“When I found out about Auburn having an aviation program, one of the things I was most passionate about doing was or really excited about doing when I got to Auburn was joining the flying team.”
In his second year, McDonald served as the safety officer for the team, which helped lead him to his position serving as president his junior and senior years.
With graduation in May, McDonald said he hopes to leave the team in the same way the seniors before him did.
“I hope myself and the others who are graduating have instilled, first, a culture of dedication to hard work and a commitment to excellence. Second, just a team that believes in gendering strong friendships…no team would be successful without that.”
The WEFT will head to Indiana on April 27 to compete for the national title. The competition begins April 30 and ends May 5.
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