Metro State's precision flight team finished second at the Region I competition of the National Intercollegiate Flying Association, held in Rangely Oct. 23-25. Most significantly, the team narrowed the gap to first-place Air Force Academy.

In the flying events, Metro was just one point behind the academy and in the ground events Metro trailed the academy by only 30 points.

"We're making the point spread less and less and this is the closest we've come to beating them," said coach Eric Bernhardt, who took over coaching duties last spring along with Eric Armstrong. Each man teaches two sections of Precision Flight and Navigation, the flight team course. Bernhardt, a 2002 Metro State graduate, is a flight instructor with Daedalus Aviation at Front Range Airport. Armstrong, a 1996 graduate, is a captain for Air Wisconsin.

Metro State finished ahead of Colorado Northwestern Community College, Rocky Mountain College (Montana), Utah Valley State College and Westminster College (Utah) for its second-place finish. "The Air Force Academy has a lot of advantages," Bernhardt said, noting that Air Force students practice as often as five times a week. Metro students practice only once a week, depending upon each student's budget.

"Our team is very consistent and experienced," Bernhardt said. "Everyone works together really well and the more experienced team members are good at sharing their knowledge."

Added Jeff Forrest, chair of the Aerospace Science department: "I think the flight team is a great example of what the typical Metro student represents - maturity, dedication, and highly responsible. The track record of continued success for our flight team is a real credit to their personal professionalism - they are not funded, they meet on weekends to practice, they hold lecture classes during the week on campus, and they rent their own aircraft."

Leading the Metro team was senior Dustin Durnen, who was named Top Pilot in the competition. Also competing for Metro were seniors Ean Biggs, Steven Lane, Carissa Shea and Seth Williams; junior Alex Brancard and sophomore Sean Cowan.

With the second-place finish, the flight team advances to national competition at Middle Tennessee State University April 25-May 1 to compete against 35 of the best flight teams in the country.