Aviation Week taking off for its third year with silent auction, helicopters, recital of drones

Kicking off with a helicopter landing in the quad, the Aviation Technology program set the stage for the third annual Aviation Week.  

Andreas Wesemann, the director of the professional pilot program, said although he grew up in Utah, he didn’t know Utah State had an aviation program until they were hiring for his position in 2014.  

“I knew it was a chance in a lifetime,” Wesemann said. “I wanted to come back to Utah to give back and find a way to help others achieve their dream.” 

Wesemann said Aviation Week has gotten better each year the program has done it. 

“It’s a chance to do a couple of different goals,” Wesemann said. “The first is that I want to be visible on campus. It’s also a chance to highlight aviation in a powerful way for our students and the community.” 

The first event of the week was Helicopter Day, where a helicopter landed on the Quad and students were welcome to come learn about it. 

“It was just exciting to see so many people come by,” Wesemann said. “They didn’t know we had a helicopter program.” 

Maizy Abbott, a sophomore majoring in the aviation professional pilot program, is the vice president of the Women in Aviation club.  

According to Abbott, landing the helicopter on the first day of the week was an important way to get people excited about the program. 

Talyn and Tytus Jeppson (bottom and right), two brothers from Cache Valley, practice flying drones with help from Ruby Jordan (center). Their father, Blake Jeppson (not pictured), brought them to campus to see the drones as part of the Aviation Week activities.

“Aviation Week is all about uplifting each other and creating a good support network,” Abbott said. “The helicopter was really fun to just show other people at the university who aren’t necessarily in our degree that we have the program and how cool it can be and how everyone can do it.”

On Monday evening, the aviation program met for the Aviation Week Banquet and Silent Auction event.  

Abbott said the banquet was the highlight of the week for her. 

“We invite the community, students and faculty, and then we bring out guest speakers every year,” Abbott said. “The food’s awesome, and it’s just fun to see everybody and hear from a guest speaker.” 

Wesemann said the banquet was a chance to recognize excellent students in the program. 

“We honored nine of our students and graduates with outstanding awards,” Wesemann said. “It was just a fun time for our student clubs in a silent auction to raise funds.” 

On Tuesday, there was a career conference in the TSC for students enrolled in and interested in the aviation program. 

“It’s a chance for industry to come see us and students to meet them,” Wesemann said. “We do mock interviews and practice questions and really connected with the industry.” 

Femke de Boer, a senior studying the fixed-wing emphasis in the aviation professional pilot degree, is the president of the Women in Aviation club.  

According to de Boer, the career conference is especially useful to seniors preparing to graduate and go into the professional field. 

“Most of us are getting ready to leave, and we need to be prepared for that,” de Boer said. “I think a lot of us don’t come from airline families, so this is a great, free resource for us.” 

The helicopter used to fly President Cantwell to campus takes off after sitting parked on the Quad for the first day of Aviation Week.

Abbott said the impact of the career conference also stretched to members of the aviation program who weren’t going to graduate. 

“You can always start making those connections,” Abbott said. “Networking is huge within aviation.” 

The career conference also presented the opportunity for alum Marci Johnson to come back and visit USU. 

Johnson is a captain on Horizon on the Embraer 175 aircraft. She said she attends multiple recruiting and informational events, but coming back to USU was both exciting and strange. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve been back here, but it’s cool to still have a connection with some people,” Johnson said.

According to Johnson, coming back allows her to empathize with the students and give them advice for their futures. 

“I’ve been in your shoes,” Johnson said. “Students are like, ‘This has been a struggle for me,’ and I’m able to say, ‘Oh, I understand. This is what I did to get through it.’” 

On Wednesday, there was a drone event on the Quad, which highlighted the drone minor offered at USU. 

“If you’re in the music program, you have a recital. Our students have a recital of flying drones,” Wesemann said. “It’s a way for them to showcase some of the things they’ve been working on: drone racing, piloting command, building sensors, guidance, control, even programming drones.” 

Thursday included tours of the aviation maintenance facility and aircraft simulators. This event highlighted the 85-year-old aviation maintenance program. 

Mike Logan, the marketing, outreach and recruiting director for the aviation technology department, said both students and the public were invited to come look at what the aviation students had been working on. 

“We showed them our jet engine test cells, the only one in the region on a university campus,” Logan said. “Then we have pre-flight simulators that our students use, and we allowed the public to come and fly those.” 

Finally, Friday marked the day of the airport open house, where the public was welcomed to the Cache County Airport to tour the training facilities and hangars. 

Logan said Aviation Week is important in raising awareness for the program. 

Matt Marcusen pilots a FPV drone from the edge of the quad with a controller and wireless video headset on April 3.

“We’re the longest-running aviation program in the state,” Logan said. “We also shine down in Price, Utah with a program down there.” 

De Boer said anyone can be part of the aviation program, and people should take the opportunity if they have any interest. 

“I don’t like school that much. I hate sitting in a classroom,” de Boer said. “Being able to fly and be more hands on — that definitely helped me love school.” 

Johnson said it’s important to take advantage of opportunities to be more well-rounded. She originally went to Utah State on a scholarship for a different major, but decided to follow her passion of aviation. 

“A lot of times we get really narrowly cornered into one option for our life,” Johnson said. “We might miss opportunities by not opening up to different things.”  

For more information on the aviation programs at Utah State, visit caas.usu.edu/programs/aviation/.  

To learn more about the Women in Aviation club, visit caas.usu.edu/clubs/women-in-aviation. 

“I remember the first time I was actually in an airplane and I saw the world from the air. It gives you a different perspective of life,” Wesemann said. “If you’re going into aviation, you’re committing to be a lifelong learner.”