Our Own Private Air Show!

Posted on October 21, 2015 by #ERAUPrescott

Hi all! The first weekend of October was certainly an eventful one. It was time for OctoberWest once again! Each year, our Prescott campus has a celebration of the anniversary of Embry-Riddle’s founding. We call this “homecoming” week OctoberWest, and this year we celebrated 90 years of Embry-Riddle legacy!

One of the main events of OctoberWest is the Wings Out West Airshow, held on Saturday Oct. 3^rd at our own flight line. Each year from 10am to 12pm, the Prescott airport is shut down and reserved for the airshow, a private show for Embry-Riddle students, faculty and their families (just another benefit of being an Eagle!).

This year the airshow was kicked off by a parachute jump executed by Rex Pemberton, a very well-known and young parachutist with hundreds of successful jumps under his belt. As he descended back down to the surface, Melissa Pemberton, a champion aerobatic pilot, circled around him in her Edge 540

Matt Chapman performs at the Wings Out West airshow this past Sat.

aerobatic airplane as the National Anthem played. After both were back on the ground, Patty Wagstaff, veteran member of the U.S. Aerobatic Team and three time U.S. National Aerobatic Champion, performed a breathtaking aerobatic routine that had all eyes turned skyward. Also performing amazing aerobatic routines were award-winning aerobatic and airline pilot Matt Chapman, as well as seasoned aerobatic pilot Bill Stein. Melissa Pemberton also performed and awe-inducing routine that included cutting a ribbon strung above runway 21L while inverted!

As part of the Flight Team, my teammates and I helped out with crowd control throughout the event. Victor and Ian (our Captain and Chief Pilot) also performed in the airshow in one of our 1965 Cessna 150s. They demonstrated two of our flying events: message drop and a power-on landing. Spread out on the Riddle ramp were several general aviation airplanes, helicopters, and even an Embraer ERJ-175 commercial airliner flown in by Skywest Airlines! These aircraft were on display throughout the airshow, each one unique in its own way.

This year’s OctoberWest was without a doubt very entertaining and action-packed. I had a great time, and I can’t wait to see what next year’s OctoberWest/Wings Out West Airshow will bring!

My friend/teammate Lorenzo and I in front of Embry-Riddle’s custom biplane

My friend/teammate Lorenzo and I in front of Embry-Riddle’s custom Waco bi-plane

OctoberWest Homecoming is Perfect for Stress Relief

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Carlos

Hello every one. Last week wasn’t quite normal at Embry-Riddle. Last week was OctoberWest and Wings out West – our homecoming and private air show. This event involved many different activities. Some of those were the career fair and some others for entertainment such as the hypnotist Bruce MacDonald, inflatable games, fireworks, etc. I most liked the inflatable games and then right after that the fireworks.

The week of OctoberWest was really stressful for me. We began training for wrestling twice a day three times a week – one training in the afternoon and one in the morning. Also I had a very long test in Basics of Aeronautics on Friday.

I finished my test Friday around noon. By the time I was done, I wanted go home to sleep. But something in the back of my mind told me that the fair was going to be something very fun. I hesitated about if I should go or not, then I thought “I will have to wait one year to have this fair back again” so I decided to go.

I went back home for lunch and rested for some time. Around 5:30 I left my home for Embry-Riddle. When I got there at the parking lot, I saw many students walking towards the softball fields wearing jackets. I thought they were overreacting, “The weather is not that cold,” I thought. I got out the car, and uff!! Yes, it was cold. I didn’t want go back home to get a jacket so I just kept walking toward the fair.

The first thing I heard was the music. I could see many inflatable games, some gigantic plastic balls where you supposed to get in and roll around, free food tables, people hanging around, and even a DJ. It was awesome!

First, I went to a game that was like a wall with circular targets on it. You had to kick the football, soccer ball or basketball toward the targets on the wall. It was fun just being there with other students, some of them international (by the way they are good in soccer), talking to them, getting know each other a little, and playing together like we knew each other for always.

After 30 minutes of kicking the ball trying to hit the target I got hungry. They had buffalo wild wings and submarine sandwiches. I took some food and I went to sit. While I was eating I contemplated the view all around the event. I was glad I came.

I ran into a friend who invited me to try a game. This game was a horizontal ladder attached from one side to the other side. The point of this was to try to cross from one side to the other using the suspended ladder. I thought it was so easy that I didn’t want to try it. My friend insisted, so I gave it a shot. I realized it was very difficult as soon a put my hand on the ladder. My best try was get to the middle but that’s it. OMG!! It is something incredibly hard to do.

Next we went to “Spark ball.” I have tried spark ball one or two times, but the guys that were playing it looked like professionals. This game is for 2-person teams, so I had to get a partner. I looked around, then I saw a guy watching the game. I went to say hi and got him on my team. We played for a while against the team that looked like professionals. At the end we lost by only 2 points. My partner and I were very proud of ourselves, we actually got some points! The undefeated team asked us if we wanted to be part of the spark ball club on campus. I gave them my e-mail. Definitely, spark ball is a very fun game.

I saw some guys playing soccer so I went to play soccer for a few minutes until I heard the DJ say, “The fireworks will start in 5 minutes.” We stopped playing soccer and I went to find a place to sit down to watch the fireworks show. By this time it was very cool OctoberWest Fireworks outside but I totally forgot it. Blue, green, yellow, red, and many different colors illuminated the sky for 20 minutes.
I laid down on the grass to watch them. It was very relaxing. I am glad that even though I was tired and stressed out from the long week I came to the fair. Even though, I knew I had a lot of things to do for the weekend, including of course homework, the fair took out all my stress, leaving me ready for this week.

This was a really good experience. Certainly I will come next year. Thanks for the fun OctoberWest.

The Weekend fun of Octoberwest

Posted on October 11, 2014 by Adam

Hello, I hope you have been enjoying the topics I choose to write about in my blog so for. So, if you don’t already know last weekend at Embry-Riddle in Prescott, Az, we hosted what we call OctoberWest. OctoberWest can be explained in a few short words, Awesome, exciting, and a ton of fun!

Click on the image above for more information.

Octoberwest is full of a lot of different activities, so starting Friday. Small paratroopers are placed/hidden around campus and on each one is a card and with each card is a prize! some of the prizes this year consisted of a thousand dollar scholarship, video game system, laptop. Then in the evening at 4, the festivities begin with a handful of free item like tee shirts, glow sticks, coffee mugs, food! Among this are activities like the RC plane show, pugil sticks and a few other fun competitive activities. Oh I can’t forget the great fireworks show they held!

But fortunately Friday evening doesn’t hold all of the fun, the next Saturday is the airshow! that’s right what could be better then having an airshow in your own backyard. its Amazing! On top of that this year they were offering B-52 rides! For all those that helped out with the events and for those that wanted to pay received a spot to ride.

But I have to say one of the best things about Octoberwest is meeting new people and seeing friends. Its an event that not only brings the school together but the community.

Although there is more, come check it out for yourself next year at Embry-Riddle. Thanks for reading.

Career Expo at Embry-Riddle

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Adam

Wow! What a crazy week. If you don’t already know this past week on Thursday Embry-Riddle, Prescott campus held the school year’s first career expo. Followed by that starting on Friday was OctoberWest. Today I will go a bit into the career expo, and my next blog will be about OctoberWest.

As far as the career expo goes, for those whom never been to one I will give you a short description then I will discuss about this year’s expo.

A career expo consists of companies looking for interns, co-ops, or new employees. Usually career expos happen on a school campus. For instance at Embry-Riddle we have companies ranging from Garmin AT, Boeing, Honeywell, Edwards Air Force Test Center to the FBI and to Airlines looking for pilots. As an example this year Honeywell was only looking for Electrical-Engineer interns but Boeing was looking for a wide variety of Engineer interns.

Career expos are mostly if not always a professional environment, this means you need to dress appropriately (suits, business formal, etc…).

Fortunately for me I happen to be studying Electrical Engineering which is one of the most desired degrees of study at the moment. Most engineering companies are looking for experienced and knowledgeable young men and women. So if you are a freshman that has yet to take any higher level engineering classes, you are probably out of luck. But this is a great chance for you to connect with companies, learn what they’re about and make connections within the industry.

If you are a junior or senior your chances of obtaining an internship or a job are greatly improved. For those looking for a job/internship, it is customary to research the companies you plan on talking with. This shows you are very interested in there companies and you won’t be wasting their time.

So the next time the career expo comes around don’t forget to attend no matter what year you are in, learn about the atmosphere and what to expect and how to act.

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow I will update you on OctoberWest so stay tuned.

Octoberwest Weekend!

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Jason

This past weekend was our Octoberwest/Alumni weekend! To start the weekend off, recruiters from the aviation industry came out at the annual career expo! Everything from airlines to government agencies were there talking to interested students and giving interviews to those applying for internships and jobs. Even though I am a sophomore, it’s good to talk with recruiters to learn about internships and requirements for jobs!

Friday night was the infamous, and ever hilarious, hypnotist Bruce McDonald! It was literally a laugh-out-loud event! The next day, there was the static display at the flightline as well as performances by Matt Chapman in his Eagle 580 and Elaine Larsen in her ERAU Jet Dragster! They put on an awesome show of aerobatics and jet dragster action which was the most exciting part of the weekend! here is a picture of Elaine Larsen and Matt Chapman performing!

I definitely got sunburnt that day, but it was worth the burn! Among the spectators of students, faculty and community members, 4 Apache helicopters, and 2 F/A-18’s flew in before the show and left after it was over! I am always excited about the activities at the flightline because you have the opportunity to get up close to the aircraft and even sit in them! This is me in a WWII T-6 Trainer!

I even got to meet Matt Chapman and Elaine Larsen during the day, and getting to see them perform made it that much more awesome!

The topper of the weekend, and another personal favorite, are the fireworks! This year, my friends and I drove down to the lower fields to watch them and they were awesome! We got pretty close, which made the booms bigger and it felt like it was a private show! Here is one of the pictures from the fireworks!

So, when you come to Riddle; make sure you attend the various activities of Octoberwest!