They may not have call signs like Maverick and Goose, but what the 17 members of the Flying Salukis do possess is the kind of dedication that has taken the team to 38 national championships in 39 years.

After Saturday, they might add another.

For the first time in six years, the National Intercollegiate Flying Association regional competition is being held in Carbondale. However, whether this will provide a home-team advantage is debatable, said co-captain Brian Clavenna.

Although being on familiar territory will help the team in some events, the location could also bring distractions, said Clavenna, a senior from Houston studying aviation management.

"You're not crammed into a hotel room with the rest of the team," he said, adding that being able to go home every night allows distractions that would not otherwise be a factor.

Still, the amount of study time the team has put in should help them succeed. Since August, the Flying Salukis have held study sessions and practices four nights a week from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. The schedule has become more intense this week, when many team members have been at the airport from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The time they put in is justified; there is a lot of material to cover.

The competition involves a number of different areas, both in flight and on the ground. One of the non in-flight tasks is aircraft recognition, where all military, civilian, and commercial aircraft from the WW II era onward is fair game.

Another ground event consists of using a manual flight computer, which co-captain Andrew Ross compared to a slide rule, the predecessor of the calculator.

Among the skills tested in-flight are navigation, landing with power on and off, and an event called the message drop, said Ross, a senior from Bartlett studying aviation management.

Ross said the message drop is probably the most fun and relaxed event.

In it, the aircraft flies over a target and must release a wooden block attached to a streamer. The task dates back to the days when pilots would practice accuracy by dropping a bag of flour as close as they could to a target, he said.

"With the judges standing out there, we don't want to drop a bag of flour," Clavenna said. "That could be bad."

Although the event is a favorite for many team members, Clavenna said he prefers the landing competitions, which are a good test of skills and judgment.

Clavenna said the experience gained through these events is a large reason why he is part of the Flying Salukis. Along with giving knowledge and experience, the familiarity with aviation literature that members must have helps in all areas of the program, giving students on the team a possible advantage over other aviation students.

The Flying Salukis is more than a competing team, though, and the benefits from being a member go beyond academics or skills, Ross said. He described a sense of community, born largely of spending so much time together.

"What the Flying Salukis is, is more of a family team," he said. "Being out here six hours a day, you become quite close to everybody."

Shannon Roth, a junior from Springfield studying aviation management, feels the same. Though she is the only female member of the Flying Salukis, she said she is treated

no differently.

"This just feels like more of a family atmosphere," she said. "The guys are just like brothers."

Whether or not the Salukis are

announced as winners at the Saturday night banquet celebrating the end of the competition, their camaraderie, dedication and talents will continue.

Genna Ord can be reached at

536-3311 ext. 254 or gord@siu.edu.