ERAU student wins 'Learn & Earn Safety Challenge'

His dad would point out different aircraft flying over their house, “and he would explain to me how they worked and what they did.”

“I started my flight training when I was 16, aiming at getting my license on my 17th birthday,” Wieland said. After graduating from Embry-Riddle, he has plans to go to Pensacola, Florida, and become a naval aviator with the goal of flying off aircraft carriers. Wieland—whose participation in the safety challenge won him a Garmin GDL 39 ADS-B receiver for iPad—speaks about his study, school, and future endeavors on his aviation journey.

“I got my ground training with an outstanding organization in Colorado Springs called AEFCO (Aviation Education Foundation of Colorado, Inc.). AEFCO is truly an amazing program and opportunity for high school students in the area. They give free ground school to classes of 25 students a year, and pay for flight training of the higher-performing students, as well as mentoring them on all of the different tracks they can take with a flying career and helping the students get there.

“I currently attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, where I study Aeronautical Science with a military pilot specialty. The school is the reason that I won the Garmin GDL-39 in the first place. For my instrument pilot class, AS 221, we are required to complete AOPA courses as part of our supplementary education. The class as a whole started doing more AOPA courses on their own time when they found out that amazing prizes could be won for completing the courses.

“In addition to my studies, I am a Midshipmen 4/C in the ERAU NROTCU, United States Naval Reserve. The desire to serve my country has always been one of the most prominent forces that has shaped my life and given me motivation to excel in what I do in order to get where I am today.”