Getting high, the fly way, with USU aviation program

By Karina Velez

March 29, 2005 | Despite unclear skies during recent inversions, the USU flight program might be headed for turbulence, but with more than 150 enrolled in the program they won't be grounded for long.

About 200 students are among the Utah State University Aviation program, specializing in professional pilot or maintenance management.

USU is among one of the top three aviation programs in the country. USU offers a bachelor's degree in aviation or a one, of, a, kind nine-week summer program to receive a private pilot's license. Kari Webb, summer program administrator said many students decide to pursue different degrees but take up flying as a hobby and get you up and certified in nine weeks.

Tyson Lukasavige, a sophomore from Fishers, Ind., majoring in flight technology, went through the nine-week summer program and is working toward his professional pilot's license. Tyson's ultimate goal is to be a helicopter pilot working in heli-skiing, extreme downhill skiing or snowboarding on glaciers or remote mountains reached by helicopter.

Lukasavige is moving toward this dream by building a lot of flying hours. To apply to different outfitters for heli-skiing in both Europe and Alaska a pilot has to have 1,500 to 1,700 flying hours.

"It would be cool to fly people to their expeditions or fly fishers to different lakes and rivers or even to fly mail and cargo to different village in Alaksa," Lukasavige said.

"I'm not looking to be rich, just to have fun," said Lukasavige.

Lukasavige is not only a full time student; he flies about 10 hours a week and works as a snowboard instructor at Beaver Mountain Ski Resort about 15 hours a week, one can't miss his love for the mountain because it's written all over his face, literally. With large white circles around his eyes, and a nice Hawaiian tan from his cheek bones down, it's obvious his love for snowboarding and the outdoors from his goggle line.

Tyson get around campus on his long board, with a little scruff, wearing his faded black hat, a t-shirt and jeans.

Lukasavige said, "I like being up there and being able to look down and see everything. It's fun to fly over campus, Beaver and Bear Lake; it's just a fun feeling."

"I'm moving out to Jackson this summer, living out of my camper with my dog, working for some outdoor gear shop," said Lukasavige.

Lukasavige loves to snowboard, kayak, rock and ice climb, mountaineering, hiking, road and mountain biking and free style riding, flying was just another hobby to add to his long list.

"My brother is a pilot from the first time he took me up, I've wanted to do it," Lukasavige said.

"Everyone's lost on the first flight. Theirs a lot to look at, and a lot to do, it doesn't matter if you suck. If you go up and you suck, you just get better," said Lukasavige.

When working toward a private pilot's license, students fly the two seater Cessna 152, and students fly the four seater Cessna 172 when they progress to the instrument license, meaning the pilots flies in the clouds without knowing where the horizon is, only knowing where you are solely by your instruments.

USU has a full time safety officer at all times. "We take really stringent precautions," said Webb. The program has their own set of regulations; students don't fly with less than three miles of visibility.

"With the weather how it is during the winter months, a lot of students get behind."

In order to be cleared for flying Lukasavige must do a pre-flight check.

Lukasavige will call for a weather check and get a signature from an instructor to be cleared for flight. He then with a watchful eye walks around the 17 foot plane; which is decorated the Aggie colors, white with a blue stripe. The pilot must make sure all lights work, the plane has enough fuel and all the bolts are on the wings.

Eventually students work their way up to commercial license, then fly a Piper Aero. This high-performance plane has room for two pilots and two passengers. Lastly students who graduate from the Aviation program receive their certified flight instructor (CFI) license. When training for the CFI license the student flies a multi-engine plane.

"Before the weather hit, I would fly every day, twice a day," Tyson said.

On Christmas Eve Lukasavige along with an instructor took off in a Cessna 172 on a seven hour trip. They started off flying over all the ski resorts from Ogden to Park City, moving on to the Flaming Gorge, "flying over it, it looked like someone stomped the lake into the ground," said Lukasavige.

Then a scenic tour of the arches in Moab, over to Lake Powell and back to Logan. "You could see all the arches, everything looked like rock.

The rocks almost looked like honeycombs from up there."

Flying alone can get a little boring, Tyson said. He once flew with his girlfriend but it only lasted 10 minutes because of her motion sickness.

"She looked like she was about to pass out in the plane, I turned to look at her, she was all pale, sweaty and couldn't talk, I thought it was time to land at that point."

The USU flight program is unique because of the diverse landscape Cache Valley offers.

"Students will encounter mountain and high altitude flying, experience controlled and uncontrolled airspace and enjoy beautiful scenery as you learn the techniques that will get you to the top," according to the "Think Aviation" pamphlet.

The program is pretty intense, many stages and tests are involved in order to progress, said Lukasavige.

"It's just like driving a car but with more controls, buttons, and gages. If you have an engine failure on the road you can pull over, but if you have failure in the air, then you better start praying."

Flight training costs can get pretty high for the average college student, as the approximate total cost is about $32,000. This price includes seven certifications, as well as plenty of air time.

The aviation program offers two classes of advanced avionics using the Regional Jet Simulator. "We are one of the very few schools who use the Flight Training Device," said Webb.

As the clouds struggle to break around Cache Valley, the pilots from the USU flight program will take to the skies watching the dial on their tachometers hour after hour. Many pilots like Lukasavige will continue their journey through life, in the sky.

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