Loening Trophy Judging Criteria
The Loening Trophy is a perpetual trophy presented annually to the outstanding all-around collegiate aviation program in the nation. The Loening Trophy is the rarest and oldest of all collegiate aviation awards. The pure silver Tiffany designed trophy was commissioned and first awarded in 1929 when aviation pioneer and inventor, Dr. Grover Loening saw a need to annually recognize the most outstanding achievements of today’s college aviation programs. Dr. Loening (first aeronautical engineer for the Wright Brothers), asked his friends and famous pilots, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and Navy Commander John Towers to assist him in judging the first competition. The original Loening Trophy is still awarded today and is considered the most prestigious award at the annual SAFECON competition. The award not only represents superb achievement in aeronautical skills, but more importantly represents the current
benchmark for an overall outstanding collegiate aviation program. Emphasis on
academics, community involvement, aviation skills and their advancement, a
comprehensive safety program, and professionalism, when combined with a pro-active enhancement of the future of aviation are keys for the selection of this award. Each team entering the competition will meet with the Loening Judging Representatives. A comprehensive question and answer session will encompass the interview along with the following:
QUALIFYING PROCEDURES
1. Presentation: Each school who chooses to compete in this competition must
present at time of check-in for registration at SAFECON a professional
presentation which summarizes and verifies each of the judging guidelines and
categories. The presentation may be in any format (video, slide-show, multi-
media, power point, printed, or other), as desired by the school, but if printed in a scrapbook style the size will not exceed 12inches by 18 inches in width and height. The following areas of performance will be included in the presentation
or printed material for the purposes of judging the schools objectively on an equal basis.
a. Table of Contents: A list by chapter, page number, or appropriate
media slide of all areas of judging criteria.
b. Organization: Team charter, management procedures, selection, by-
laws, minutes, officers, etc. which define clearly the operation of the team.
c. Competitions: A chronological listing of all NIFA competitions
entered or participated in since the last SAFECON. This will include
the number of participants, the placing in each event and the overall
performance of the school. Be sure to include the overall number of
schools attending each event.
d. Hosting: A presentation or record describing in detail all NIFA flying
competitions and gatherings hosted by your school during this
competitive cycle. The competitive cycle will start at the end previous
years SAFECON and end with the performance at the current years
SAFECON.
e. Safety Program: Present for the judges a comprehensive review of
your schools aviation safety program and record. This should include
any presentations hosted, presented, or attended by your school during
the competitive cycle. All FAA presentations, flight Safety programs,
locally sponsored safety events, fly-ins, courses of study or any other
safety related events should be included in your presentation. Please
include the number of participants, college and community
involvement and overall promotion of a comprehensive and sound
aviation safety program. The judges will include your teams ranking
and performance in the American Airlines Safety Award for the
current SAFECON in determining your schools performance and
ranking in the Safety category of the Loening event.
f. Fund Raising Events: Raising the funds required to attend and
participate in NIFA events at a regional and SAFECON level are
extensive and demanding. The teams out-reach to both school and
community in raising these funds is a clear sign of the teamwork and
commitment of the teams towards reaching their goals. Please list in
chronological order all fund raising events, the nature of the event, the
number of participants and the amount of funds raised. For those
schools whose charter prevents outside fund raising, please include all
area of school and alumni support which allow you to compete in
NIFA events.
g. Campus / Community Involvement: Those involved in aviation have a
unique bond and responsibility to promote and foster a positive image
of the field of aviation. Please list all events presented, sponsored, or
attended which foster a better understanding of the aviation
community; your school, and promote the goodwill of those involved
in the aviation program. This area should include you team’s
involvement in the support of other school functions. Those out-reach
events such as tours, elementary school visits, high school career days,
road clean-ups, tutoring and group support programs are examples of
the unique responsibility of aviators to foster and promote aviation.
Dr. Grover Loening was keenly aware of not only our image in
aviation, but more importantly the requirement to foster the next
generation of aviation professionals to carry on the highest traditions
of the profession.
h. Academics: The judges would like to have a comprehensive record of
the team’s academic record for review. This record should include,
but not be limited to the grade point averages of the members and
team, and any flight or ground certificates / ratings achieved during the
past year. Please include a comprehensive list of the team’s scholarships, grants and scholastic achievements, and any innovative or unique improvements your school has made to the collegiate
aviation community.
The above areas are to act as guidelines for the presentations, but in no way limit the imagination or constrain the input of team accomplishments. All claims of accomplishments should be clearly documented with pictures, promotions, news articles, letters of appreciation, or any other document which clearly supports the stated accomplishments of the team. In the case of academic records portion of the judging, a signed statement by the team’s advisor as to the accomplishments being valid and true
will satisfy this requirement.
2. Style of Presentation. An orderly and comprehensive business like presentation using current technology will best support your presentation. Your presentation should be prepared by the team and presented as if you were marketing your collegiate aviation program to an outside corporation or group seeking their support. The presentation should be orderly, well documented, logical, and contain an easy to follow information path which readily defines your schools accomplishments during the competitive period. Size is not as important as quality and content. Numerous untitled photographs, personal social events,
poorly constructed and unkempt presentations tend to detract from the specific
accomplishments of your team. Think of your presentation as a business like
professional work which will stand alone in clearly defining your team’s hard
earned achievements.
3. Scoring Criteria. The judges will receive all presentations and judge them in nine areas of competition. Each area of competition has an assigned and weighted value in the overall grading and ranking of the schools. The list of areas and their weighting is as follows: a. Table of Contents / Presentation Outline (1), b. Competitions and Performance (4), c. Hosting (5), d. Organization (2), e. Safety (3.5), f. Fund Raising (3), g. Community / Campus Involvement (4), h. Academics (4), and I. Presentation (3.5). Based on the number of schools
presenting a numerical ranking will be used to place each school in objective
order as determined by each individual judge. For example, if 20 schools
presented, the judges must rate each school for a “value multiplier” of 1 (the
lowest performance) to 20 (the highest performance) in each category. Their can
be no ties, and each ranking can only be used once in each category. If a
particular judge felt that your school had the best overall rating in “Fund Raising”, they would rank you number 1 of 20, and multiply 20 (number of schools presenting) times 3 (the weighting of the fund raising category), to equal 60 points towards the overall score. If you ranked number 15 of 20 (5 from the bottom), you would receive 5 times the “Fund Raising” weighting of 3, for a total of 15 points towards your overall score. Each judge will compile and submit their totals to the judging committee. The judging committee will then review the schools with the top three overall score totals in all categories. The judges will then re-rank the top three schools jointly to determine the overall winner.
4. Extras: In no way is the above information intended to totally limit your
presentations. To the contrary, Dr. Grover Loening was a key innovator, inventor,
and genius as a pioneer in the aviation world. If it was not for his innovative
foresight and challenging new horizons, we might not be the leader in the world of aviation today. If your school wishes to include any areas of accomplishment,
innovative ideas or presentations, you are welcome to the challenge. In the words of Dr. Loening, when he first announced the Loening Trophy in 1929, “the best time to train and challenge students for a career in aviation, is at the age when they attend college……have activities having to do with all phases of encouraging and promoting flying at their colleges and their success therein will lead to great accomplishments”.