The Yellow & Blue Podcast | A Bird’s Eye View: SDSU Aviation | S1E6

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Explore the exciting world of South Dakota State University aviation, where students learn and take flight directly from the heart of Brookings. SDState aviation students fly planes daily, logging thousands of flight hours each year. In this episode of “The Yellow & Blue Podcast,” we feature a lineup of guests: Maria Julius, a faculty instructor; Lucas Bortz, a junior aviation student; Karsen Welbig, an SDSU flight instructor who shares insights on the challenges and triumphs of flight training; and Hayden Brewers, an SDSU flight instructor who flies the airplane in the episode. Tune in to hear firsthand stories, tips for aspiring pilots and a deep dive into the SDSU aviation program's unique experiences. Whether you're a flight enthusiast or just curious about aviation, this episode will inspire your journey to the skies. 

Transcript: 
[Heidi] 
And obviously this plane is probably about the smallest that people would fly. How does experience on like these planes apply to like a large commercial one? 
 
[Karsen]
Yep, yeah. It's kind of a crazy concept, I think, especially to my grandparents. They think it's crazy that we fly these. I mean, all of a sudden, I'm going to fly a jet. 
 
[Heidi]
Hello, Jackrabbits Nation. My name is Heidi Bushong, and this is “The Yellow & Blue Podcast.” Today's episode is being recorded at the Brookings Airport, where dozens of SDSU students, flight instructors and other pilots take flight every single day. Later in the episode, we'll interview an SDSU flight instructor mid-flight to see what the learning experience is like in an airplane. 
 
[Heidi]
Here in the hangar with me today is Maria Julius, a faculty instructor, with the aviation program here at SDSU, and Lucas Bortz, a junior aviation student. Thanks for being here today, guys. 
 
[Maria]
Of course. Thanks for having us. 
 
[Heidi]
Really appreciate it. So I kind of want to start out asking you guys some questions, and I'm going to look to Maria first, to talk a little bit about the aviation program. Our program has grown so much in recent history. Approximately how many students are enrolled in the program currently? 
 
[Maria]
So, we currently have about 200 students enrolled in the program, and in the past few years, we have doubled, almost tripled in size. 
 
[Heidi]
That's crazy. Like, how do you how do you maintain growth like that? 
 
[Maria]
With safety in mind? Very carefully. We've added airplanes. We've added a new hangar just in the last couple of years, and so in the Brookings community and SDSU have been great supporters of our program and the growth. 
 
[Heidi]
Absolutely. Lucas, you would have been one of those students, you know, kind of coming in here in the last few years. Why did you decide to come to SDSU? 
 
[Lucas]
It's a great question. So, during my junior year, you know, I went to a small high school, so everybody asked each other, you know, what do you want to do in the future? Well, so there's an old fly instructor here, Kalley Diercks. She has a younger sister, went to high school with her, and she's like, hey, I heard you want to go to pursue aviation. 
 
[Lucas]
And, you know, my sister, she flight instructs here at South Dakota State. And, yeah. So next thing I knew, I was in a car driving up to South Dakota State, and she gave me a private tour of the facility. And the airport is, pretty fun experience. And, yeah, that's why I came out South Dakota State. 
 
[Lucas]
I got to experience life out here for a day. 
 
[Heidi]
So. Absolutely. So, she knew you wanted to pursue aviation. Why did you decide you want to become a pilot? 
 
[Lucas]
That's a great question as well. I would say there's an inspiration. When I was younger. My grandpa, he flew in the Vietnam War. Oh, yeah. So, he flew P-3s. And, I would always see, like, the models sitting around his house. So that inspired me a little bit. And then there's inspiration along the way, too, growing up. 
 
[Lucas]
I'd say sophomore year, I was talking to my uncle about what I wanted to do. And, you know, he had a best, best friend from college, Scott Alpers. Shout out to you. He's a captain for Delta now, but he gave me a tour of MSP. I got to sit inside Airbus. And as a I went up in the control tower. 
 
[Lucas]
It was really, really good inspiration. So, yeah, it's few things that inspired me. 
 
[Heidi]
Sounds like a very personal experience along the way. You know, had people helping you out, making sure that you're making the right choice. 
 
[Lucas]
Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. 
 
[Heidi]
I love that. So, part of that student experience, right, is getting flight hours. You know, you have to learn how to fly in order to become a pilot. And part of that is storing airplanes here at the hangar. There's so many airplanes for students to fly on. Maria, space has grown here with the new hangar, the Alan O. Tuntland Hangar. Approximately how many airplanes are stored in there? And how many airplanes do students have access to fly on? 
 
[Maria]
So, we have about 17 aircraft, three of which are twin engine aircraft. So that that allows our students to get their multi-engine rating, that multi-engine commercial, as well as multi-engine flight instructor ratings. So, with the addition of that new hangar, it's been a great help. We are able to utilize this hangar that we're currently in a lot better for maintenance and things like that. 
 
[Maria]
And then, the other hangar is primarily used for storing the aircraft at night when they're not when they're not flying. 
 
[Heidi]
Lucas, let's talk about flying a little bit. You know, you have, how many flight hours do you have to get by the end of your program? 
 
[Lucas]
So, for commercial, what I'm in right now is, 190 is the goal. It's a big number. Big ticket item. So, 190. But, to go to the airlines, need 1,000. 
 
[Heidi]
OK. Yeah. There's a big difference between those two numbers. No wonder why this place is always so busy. 
 
[Lucas]
Yes. 
 
[Heidi]
Do you remember what your first flight was like? 
 
[Lucas]
I do. It was, so the first couple got canceled. Oh. But, yeah, it that's normal out here in Brookings with wintertime flying. Sure. But calm. Winter day, just snowed some. It was. It was. The sun was starting to set, so it was really peaceful. Picture perfect. You know, it was a thrill, to say the least. 
 
[Lucas]
Sure. Yeah. 
 
[Heidi]
Sounds like a good experience. No horror stories involved? 
 
[Lucas]
No. No horror stories. It was, it was about as good as it could get. 
 
[Heidi]
So good. That's always what we want, right? So, what has been, as you're getting, you know, your flight hours done, what has been the most challenging part? 
 
[Lucas]
OK, so in the beginning, it's Brookings weather again. South Dakota weather, you could say, it's always windy out here. I feel like, so crosswind landings are hard to learn, especially when you're thrown in a plane for the first time. And, you know, crosswind landings are hard. So, I'd say that's the most challenging part about learning to fly. 
 
[Heidi]
So, as Lucas was saying, you know, you need how many thousand? 
 
[Lucas]
One thousand hours. 
 
[Heidi]
One thousand flight hours. So, a couple of statistics here. Last academic year, approximately 10,300 flight hours were completed by SDSU students. And during peak times, you know, beautiful weather, you know, especially probably, you know, during the summer, spring, fall type of times. You can see around 60 flights a day during peak times by students here at SDSU. 
 
[Heidi]
Maria, what is the feeling like knowing that you can give this, like, tangible, hands-on experience that these students can use in their future careers? 
 
[Maria]
It's a really great feeling of satisfaction of, you know, every degree is important and every career path is valuable and important. Ours happens to be one that is hands-on almost from day one. And we're able to let brand new students get in an airplane with another flight instructor who's only a couple of years older than them, fly an airplane. 
 
[Maria]
And seeing seeing their growth from, you know, from day one until the day of graduation and then even beyond that. 
 
[Heidi]
Recently, two SkyWest pilots, both alums of this program and good friends, actually met out in a flight. I think it was like in Seattle, if I remember correctly. Tell me different experiences that you've been hearing about other alumni and meeting other pilots in the field? 
 
[Maria]
Sure. So that's actually becoming more and more of a common occurrence out in the industry now, as there, especially as our program grows and gets bigger, and we put out more and more graduates of our program. It was really fun to see both of those two former students, one as a captain and one as a first officer, both of our former female graduates from our program. 
 
[Maria]
They had been friends in the program as a flight instructor and student. That's how they started out. And then they became fast friends. And then later on down the road, we see them both in the airplane together, working as part of a crew together on a trip. It's really great to see that in our graduates, and also sometimes we see some of our, some of our alumni, we see some of them out in the industry flying, whether it's in Sioux Falls and they're the ones flying or flying our aircraft to Minneapolis or wherever. 
 
[Maria]
It's becoming more of a common occurrence. Or we run into them in the airport, as our other students or friends or family are going on trips and things like that. So, it's really it's a really great feeling of satisfaction to see that, especially knowing from where they came from on day one. 
 
[Heidi]
Yeah, for sure. Total small world connection there. You know, there's thousands of pilots who fly commercially. Just gotta love to see those SDSU Jackrabbits teaming up. Right. So, Lucas, talking about your future career here a little bit. Where would you like to fly or what would you like to do after you graduate? Yeah. 
 
[Lucas]
Of course. you know, I'm big on family, so I like staying around home. And, we actually have a bridge program with Sun Country out here, and Sun Country is based out of Minneapolis. Sun Country would be the ideal scenario. That would be, that'd be perfect. Just about perfect. 
 
[Heidi]
So we'll be sure to check back when you're done to see if you actually, like, pursue that route. I love that. And I also had a little birdie in my year. He told me that you actually have a twin brother in the aviation program as well. 
 
[Lucas]
Yes, I do. Yes, I do. 
 
[Heidi]
Tell me a little bit about that because it sounds like he saw what you were doing here and liked it, so he decided to tag along for the ride. 
 
[Lucas]
Yeah. So, you know, he didn't originally come out here right away. He wanted to work trades and kind of do aviation on the side. So, yeah. I called him. I was like, you know, you should really, you should really try this out. I think it'd be good for you. And at that spring semester, he showed up, and he's been you ever since he did the, he did 170 in the summer. 
 
[Lucas]
So, he caught up to me. Oh, so we're in the same level now. Yeah. It's really great to have a twin brother to, you know, go through the program with, have a study buddy. You know, we're very competitive as well. So, yeah, someone to, you know, keep you in check, too. So. 
 
[Heidi]
So, with that being said, who would you say is the better pilot? 
 
[Lucas]
And that's a tough question, but I got to give it. 
 
[Heidi]
Is it though? 
 
[Lucas]
It, I mean, I got to give it to Ryan. 
 
[Heidi]
Oh, that's so nice of you. 
 
[Lucas]
Yeah, I'd say Ryan's better pilot. So. 
 
[Heidi]
Sure, he did work really hard to make sure he was caught up. 
 
[Lucas]
Yes, yes, he did. I'll give him that. Yeah. That's awesome. 
 
[Heidi]
So, if a student were considering coming to SDSU for aviation, why would you guys tell them to do it? 
 
[Maria]
I think, what I would say is, and what I tell a lot of prospective students is, you know, the size of our program, we're not the biggest program in the country by any means. But that, I feel like, gives us an advantage with our students, you know. It's, I think it's the perfect fit for students looking for a more a little bit of a more personalized education, if you want to call it that. 
 
[Maria]
We, all the faculty, the staff, maintenance, our managers out here at the airport, our staff members and advisors and directors on campus, too. We all work together to really create that positive learning environment. From what I've observed, in the classroom and out of class, hanging out at the airport, things like that. 
 
[Maria]
Students have a really good sense of camaraderie. Yeah, as well with each other. They form study groups, and they study together, and then they carry that through their careers to later on in the future. They forge those relationships, and then those carry through, and for the rest of their careers. 
 
[Heidi]
Yeah. That's awesome. Someone told you to come here. Why would you? And you told your brother. Why would you tell more people? 
 
[Lucas]
You know, I agree with Maria. You get to know people on a more personal level here. And that's what I was told. That's why I came here. I was like, Kalley. She's like, well, you get to know your flight instructor on a more personal level. You get to, you know, build a bond with them, so to speak. 
 
[Lucas]
So, yeah, I agree 100% with what Maria is saying. And yeah, that's why I would come out here. 
 
[Heidi]
You're not just a face, you're not just a numbers. People actually get to know you. 
 
[Lucas]
Exactly. Yeah. 
 
[Heidi]
Awesome. Thank you both for being here today. Next, we are going to take flight with two SDSU flight instructors and see what it's like to fly in the very planes that students get to get their flight hours on. “The Yellow & Blue Podcast” continues in the air. We have two SDSU flight instructors. Hayden Brewers is who is flying the plane, and Karsen Welbig who is in the front seat answering questions. 
 
[Heidi]
Thank you, guys, so much for taking us on a flight today. We're going to talk a little bit about what it's like to teach SDSU aviation students and fly these planes. Thanks for being here today. 
 
[Karsen]
Yeah, thanks for having me out here. It's going to be a fun day. 
 
[Heidi]
So, Karsen, what would you say is your favorite part about being a flight instructor? 
 
[Karsen]
That's a tough one. I would say, there's a lot of kind of feeling of, like, gratitude when you're done teaching students. I think it's, I don't know, it's kind of you kind of go through phases in our training where we kind of take, like steps at a time when we're kind of too few lessons without seeing any progress. 
 
[Karsen]
Then we'll see a big leap in progress. So, we'll kind of stop again. It's called a learning plateau. Super common for people to have, and I think the biggest kind of thing that I think is super cool about being a flight instructor, my I think I both enjoy is seeing students make those leaps, and then being able to kind of at the end, they pass their check ride to get their license or whatever goal they're working toward. 
 
[Karsen]
And then being able to be a part of that is really, really fun. Seeing them kind of kind of locked in to become a student, have a little bit of stress. And they succeed. And then they ultimately could pass all their or they pass to achieve their goal that they have for the semester. 
 
[Karsen]
So that's kind of the funnest thing that I have. It's kind of satisfying. I always tell people that I talk to about it. It's super satisfying, being able to see that kind of progress from beginning of the semester to that end of the semester. 
 
[Heidi]
Yeah, absolutely. So, what does a typical day look like as an SDSU flight instructor? Do they look kind of like this? 
 
[Karsen]
Yeah, it looks a lot like this. Yeah. So, I typically see around four, five or six students a day. Mostly we spend a lot of time flying, but there is some stuff that we do on the ground. So, we'll have some ground lessons where, we'll just kind of talk with meet one on one where we'll kind of just go over a few things, kind of like a conversation, kind of like today, and I'll just be kind of explaining some things. 
 
[Karsen]
And you know, we talk about things and ask questions kind of open ended, not traditional kind of lecture style class, a lot different on one-on-one time. And then a lot of times I'll have three or four flights a day like this where I'll have a student sit next to me and we'll go practice maneuvers. 
 
[Karsen]
We'll practice different things. Going across country or two just kind of depends, whatever the lesson, set out for us today. So, there's just criteria that we have to meet, and we'll go kind of mix around things just to kind of get that criteria all met. So yeah, it looks a lot like this. Just kind of a lot of explaining, a lot of conversation and dialogue about, you know, kind of just kind of that learning process, a lot of open-ended kind of conversation. 
 
[Heidi]
Absolutely. And for some context, for people who may not know, what is it that we're flying in and like, how high are we? Right? Yes. 
 
[Karsen]
So, this is a Cessna 172 Skyhawk aircraft, just got one engine, about 180 horsepower on the front of it. So, that's just one propeller kind of keeping us in the air and currently are about 1,500 feet above the ground. This is about kind of a lower end of where we'll do our maneuvers. So, we kind of go anywhere from about 1,500 feet above the ground to anywhere 4,000 or 5,000 feet above the ground is where we'll kind of exercise and just do different maneuvers and different training kind of scenarios, stuff like that, for sure. 
 
[Heidi]
Teaching students how to fly these planes. You're talking about different maneuvers that you can do. What would you say is the most challenging maneuver that you have to teach students? 
 
[Karsen]
Definitely landings. Just because of the landing itself. But it requires a lot of special skills that we look for as instructors and try to teach. So, landings. Yes. They're all different. The conditions are all different, even if you call it. Do say the pattern. Pattern is what we do just to kind of get in and out of airport. 
 
[Karsen]
So, if we're hanging out the pattern repeatedly doing landings every three, four or five minutes, every landing and approach that we come in and do will be a little bit different. And so, yes, the landing itself is kind of a special skill and technique in its own sense. But being able to land the airplane by yourself requires a lot of different, smaller skills from a lot of different areas of our training and kind of puts the ball together and kind of makes it all under one big skill. 
 
[Karsen]
So that's kind of what we look for, and kind of think, as you know, all flight instructors think it's probably one of the hardest things that we have to teach is, because it requires a lot of skills to kind of all work together. 
 
[Heidi]
Absolutely. And obviously this plane is probably about the smallest that people would fly. How does experience, like these planes apply to like a large commercial one? Yeah. 
 
[Karsen]
Yeah. It's kind of a crazy concept, I think, especially to my grandparents. They think it's crazy that we fly these, and then all of a sudden, I'm going to fly a jet. And everything that we do here and these kind of small airplanes we do, it prepares us for the future. I mean, airplanes all fly the same. 
 
[Karsen]
The controls and what's in front of you all looks a little bit different. But it all ultimately flies the same way. That again, kind of back to that landing skill. When you're coming in to land, it's the same way that we land this airplane as it is. If you land a Boeing 737, it's all the same kind of principles. 
 
[Karsen]
Just a little bit more complicated. There's a lot more systems, a lot more complex things up front, like in an airliner or jet that makes the workload for pilots a little bit easier. Just because you're going faster, you're going into more complex areas. So again, kind of the principles of flying in these small ones are kind of transition to the larger ones. 
 
[Karsen]
But as we progress, we get more training in those larger airplanes and simulators and stuff like that to help us progress, with our careers and flying larger airplanes, jets and other things like that. 
 
[Heidi]
Yeah, absolutely. Karsen, you told me that you've been flying with SDSU aviation since 2021. You’ve probably had thousands of flight hours in that time. What would you say is probably, like your most favorite or most memorable flight? You have one in particular? 
 
[Karsen]
Yeah, actually, I actually have a couple … The one that takes the top is this past summer, I got to take my two parents up, to go fly. It was fun. They both are graduates of South Dakota State. So, you spent a lot of time flying around Brookings campus, and they got to kind of look over there. 
 
[Karsen]
And then my second one was probably taking my grandparents up. I got to take them up this summer, too. Oh, never have been really in a small plane, but my grandpa always kind of wanted, you know, be able to fly. I just never really did. And so, it was kind of a fun experience for them to sit up next to me and couldn't be able to take the controls for a little bit. 
 
[Karsen]
And we just kind of putz around and just look at the countryside and stuff like that. So big fun ones that I got to spend with, my parents, my grandparents. 
 
[Heidi]
That's awesome. So, you're teaching future pilots. You talk to them all the time, and people considering becoming a pilot. If someone were considering coming to SDSU for aviation or becoming a pilot at all, why would you tell them to do it? 
 
[Karsen]
I would just say, you know, follow your dreams. Kind of cliché, I know, but for me, I always kind of thought it was something that wasn't really attainable for me, like when I would travel on vacation. Growing up, I always thought flying was the funnest part. Yeah. And seeing the pilots and the flight attendants and the crews all walk through the airport was just so cool to me. 
 
[Karsen]
And I think a lot of people have that same kind of far idea. I never really thought it was serious until I actually talked to a pilot before, when I was going to Hawaii my junior year of high school, and he said, yeah, I just do it. Like, it's something that people don't really realize is attainable for people. 
 
[Karsen]
And that's kind of why I would say do it. That's, I think, kind of the biggest thing that maybe steers people away is they just don't know the right avenue to get into it. Yeah. So, check out SDSU aviation, or just maybe go to your local airport to take a flight with a flight instructor. 
 
[Karsen]
Any pilot would love to kind of help you find those avenues that you need to get back into or get into aviation. Get to fly. 
 
[Heidi]
Absolutely. And I know you won't be an SDSU flight instructor forever, but when your time is done here, what do you want to do? 
 
[Karsen]
I want to be an airline pilot. 
 
[Heidi]
OK. 
 
[Lucas]
Yeah, yeah. 
 
[Karsen]
It's kind of what I'm looking forward to and working toward or something. I'm excited about. 
 
[Heidi]
Anything else that you want to add? Anything you think people should know about the program or flying airplanes like these? 
 
[Karsen]
Yeah. Kind of leapfrogging back to my last answer was, you know, I think something that if you're if you're excited or are passionate about aviation or have a, you're curious about it, I think you should definitely go try to check it out. Something that I did, and I didn't really know was possible. And now it's kind of my favorite thing that I've ever done in my life. 
 
[Karsen]
So that's kind of what I would say is just definitely go check it out and kind of puts it out of your comfort zone a little bit. But yeah, it's kind of what I really enjoy about it. 
 
[Heidi]
Absolutely. Thanks so much, Hayden and Karsen, for taking us up in the air. We're going to go take a look around campus. So, thanks for watching everybody.