Podcast Ep. 109: The Future of Purdue Airport’s Commercial Flight Service and the History Behind Purdue Aviation

Adam Baxmeyer:

I’m Adam Baxmeyer.

Rob Wynkoop:

I’m Rob Wynkoop, and you’re listening to

Adam Baxmeyer:

This Is Purdue.

Kate Young:

Hi, I’m Kate Young, and you’re listening to This Is Purdue. The official podcast for Purdue University. As a Purdue alum and Indiana native, I know firsthand about the family of students and professors who are in it together persistently pursuing and relentlessly rethinking. Who are the next game-changers, difference-makers, ceiling-breakers, innovators? Who are these boilermakers? Join me as we feature students, faculty, and alumni taking small steps toward their giant leaps, and inspiring others to do the same.

Rob Wynkoop:

Flight is just part of this place, part of Purdue. It is so important to so many aspects of Purdue. I mean start with Amelia Earhart and what she has meant to this university. We’ve got a great School of Aviation and Transportation Technology. We have world-class research going on here in jet propulsion. Daggonit, we should have air service, and so, finally, I mean we can add that to the long list of just what this university means in terms of flight really over the last 50-100 years.

Kate Young:

In this episode of This Is Purdue, we’re discussing the return of commercial flights to the Purdue University Airport and highlighting the university’s renowned history in aviation. We have three special boilermakers joining us for this episode. Starting with Adam Baxmeyer, director of the Purdue University Airport, and Rob Wynkoop, vice president of auxiliary services at Purdue.

Adam and Rob are sharing the importance of the Purdue Airport, building upon the university’s nearly 100-year legacy in aviation excellence, and why, after 20 years, commercial flights have returned to the Purdue University Airport. Offering 24 weekly round trip flights from West Lafayette to Chicago, and over 240 available connecting destinations.

Plus, you’ll learn more about the largest classroom on campus, the Purdue Airport, as Tom Carney, professor emeritus and former head of the Department of Aviation Technology delves into the history behind Purdue’s aviation excellence. Plus, we’re taking you behind the scenes inside a Purdue flight simulator.

Yeah, we knew this episode would be really unique, but this is cooler than I even thought. I got us safely on the ground.

Podcast team member:

Great job, Kate!

Kate Young:

That’s right, I landed a plan with our This Is Purdue crew on board. Well, okay, I landed a plane inside a simulator. So, first, let’s dive into how the Purdue University Airport is offering more convenience and cost-effective travel options for the Greater Lafayette community. Adam and Rob are sharing all of the advantages that come with starting and ending your travel at Purdue’s airport, so let’s get to it.

Adam and Rob, thank you so much for joining us on This Is Purdue, the official university podcast. We’re really excited to get into, with the return of commercial air service. I know it’s a project you both have been working on for a long time. So, take us back to the beginning though. What made you all think that this initiative was so important for the university, and how was it decided that commercial flights were going to return to Purdue University?

Rob Wynkoop:

Yeah, thanks for having us. We are so excited. It’s an honor to be part of this, and I’ll start this conversation, and the discussion about air service actually starts with a discussion about beer, believe it or not. In the fall of 2018, we had just launched Boiler Gold, the Purdue University beer, and I was meeting with President Daniels, chief of staff Gina DelSanto at the time who has been just a great mentor and encourager to me.

We were excited about having the new beer and what that meant for the university and for the community, and she looked at me and she said, “If we could bring commercial service back to Purdue University, that would be a mic drop moment.” I said, “Challenge accepted. We’ll go figure it out.” And so, we started from there and Adam and I started to put our heads together and began to formulate a plan on how we could do that, and off we went.

Kate Young:

And why is now the time? Why after 20 years?

Rob Wynkoop:

Well, I think there’s a number of things. One is you look at where Purdue has been in the last 10 to 12 years. The growth that we’ve seen both from a student body perspective, from a research perspective, economic development throughout this community. There is enough growth in a variety of areas at this university and this community that it is certainly viable and time to take a hard look at it and see if we can make it work.

So, that’s what Adam and I put our minds to and said, “We’ll start the process.” And there’s so much growth and so many ways in Greater Lafayette and at Purdue that this is something that we can sustain, that the demand is there, and it really continues to push this university forward in terms of just renown and ability to be a game-changer on the world stage.

Kate Young:

And you touched on the community, how this benefits the community and the local residents. What are some of the specific advantages and conveniences? I know I’m curious myself, so let’s talk about all the different advantages that the local community will have with this new return of the commercial flight.

Rob Wynkoop:

Yeah, one, just ease and convenience. I mean that is probably the key thing. No longer… If you think about travel, anyone who travels here by plane, the last hour to three hours, are in a car. That comes to an end now with air service back here at Lafayette. You’ll be able to… Whether you’re traveling from Seoul, Tokyo, or even Stockholm, you’re not going to have to drive that last one to three hours anymore. You’ll be able to get off the plane, get a rental car, or have someone pick you up, and within 10 to 15 minutes, be anywhere you need to be in this community.

And that’s huge. It’s not just huge for university or corporate travel, but also just for the community members here who want to travel somewhere in the country. They don’t have to get in a car. They don’t have to pack their family up anymore and travel to Chicago O’Hare, or Midway, or Indianapolis International Airport. They can start right here in our community, get on a plane, and be anywhere in the world in just several hours.

Adam Baxmeyer:

I would also add, when you come home too, Indianapolis is a great airport, right?

Kate Young:

Right.

Adam Baxmeyer:

But you come in, maybe it’s 10 o’clock, you grab your luggage. You get to your car, you get on the interstate, you’re home 11:30, midnight. Here, you land at 10 o’clock, by 10:15 you’re home. SportsCenter’s on, right? You’re watching highlights, it’s great. And so, there’s all sorts of advantages, especially on the way home too. And the one thing I would add, recently I was at a meeting, and President Chiang was talking about recruiting. And he wasn’t talking about sports. He was talking about top talent. He was talking research faculty members here at Purdue University, but he was using the analogy of the transfer portal and saying, “Hey, we want the best to come here.” And so many times we have people come look at Lafayette, Purdue, and they’re like, “This is great. It’s just so hard to get to.” And there’s a lot of travel involved with research.

Kate Young:

So, what can residents of the Purdue community expect? I’m curious, the terminal experience, the fees. What will going through security be like? Will it be different from Indianapolis or O’Hare? Tell us a little bit about those key advantages.

Adam Baxmeyer:

Yeah, so it’s going to be a lot better than both because it’s going to be a much shorter line. I’d say the experience is going to start when you pull up to the airport. I looked earlier today in the equivalent walking distance at O’Hare, $45 a day for parking to get from the parking lot into the terminal. Here, the distance is going to be a few hundred feet, and $5 a day for parking.

So, you’re off to a good start, right? You come into the building, short lines, and then you get on a plane, an hour later you’re in Chicago. There’s hundreds of destinations from Chicago O’Hare. So, once you go through the security checkpoint here at Lafayette, you’re in. You land at O’Hare, go in at 4:00. If you’re connecting on United or American, United to the left, American to the right, they’ve also got partnerships with Alaska. Just walk to your next gate, your luggage transfers automatically. So, it should be a fantastic experience. It saves a lot of time. It saves you from being on I-65, which is a good thing.

Kate Young:

Tolls and everything.

Adam Baxmeyer:

Absolutely.

Rob Wynkoop:

That’s right.

Kate Young:

What about a high-level overview? How many flights will be going in and out? Will customers have the opportunity to fly in the morning, in the evening? What does that look like?

Rob Wynkoop:

Four times a day departing from Lafayette into O’Hare starting at 6:30 in the morning, coming back at nine o’clock, and then four flights back from O’Hare as well. I mean one of the important things about bringing service back to Lafayette and to Purdue is the flexibility. People need flexibility. You don’t want to fly to O’Hare and have to wait for five or six hours for a connection.

And so, with at least four flights a day, that eliminates the wait at O’Hare. You’ll be able to quickly get on another flight onto whatever your final destination happens to be. And so, to us, that was one of the key aspects of partnering with Southern Airways was just the flexibility and the ability to have enough flights to get you anywhere you need to be without having to wait for too long in any one location.

Kate Young:

And what about pricing when it comes to flying in and out of LAF? Rob discusses pricing and some added perks when it comes to parking and baggage fees where customers will save money as well.

Rob Wynkoop:

In some of the community conversations that Adam and I have had, one of the things that we shouldn’t have been surprised about but we were pleasantly surprised about was the positive reception to baggage fees, and you’re like, “What?” Yeah, really, people were excited that the first two bags are free. Now, they’ve got to be 50 pounds or less, but that’s becoming less and less common with any airline, let alone low-cost airlines.

So, that’s a real positive thing for us, and I think in terms of just pricing, it is, it’s going to fluctuate. It’s going to be based on demand, but I would expect you’d see a price of anywhere between 150 to 180 each way, which isn’t that much considering the cost to drive your car, to park at a major airport, and then your time or what your time costs. It actually evens out and is probably a little bit of a savings.

Kate Young:

Yeah, so $5 parking and the first two bags are free under 50 pounds, I mean, that’s a perk.

Rob Wynkoop:

Yeah.

Adam Baxmeyer:

Absolutely, and then last thing that Rob mentioned too is your time. How much is that worth to you on a particular trip? So, absolutely, at first blush, it’s like… But when you actually look at the numbers, it could be a savings not only comparable, but I tell you what, how long does it take to get to O’Hare? People ask me that. Sometimes it’s two-and-a-half hours, sometimes it’s four. It’s hard to quantify with the prices. I think that it’s less about price, it’s more about the value. It’s a very valuable service.

Kate Young:

Adam and Rob dig further into the expansion of Purdue’s airport, and Purdue President Mung Chiang’s Purdue Flies strategic initiative. So, when you look at the broader campus environment, why are these new developments and the expansion of this airport so crucial?

Rob Wynkoop:

Adam touched on that earlier. First of all, in terms of just bringing top talent to the university, whether it’s faculty, researchers, students, this needs to be a place that they can access pretty easily, get here pretty quickly, and the airport provides that. I think, additionally, when you look at some of the economic development that’s happened here in the last 5 to 10 years, this is a key aspect to those success in that it doesn’t change a decision necessarily, but it sure helps someone get a positive perspective about what this community offers to corporations, to students, to faculty, really to the world. And so, it is really critical and it’s a great first step for us as we continue moving forward.

Kate Young:

Reintroducing commercial flight is part of President Chiang’s Purdue Flies strategic initiative. How do you think that this contributes to fostering community, not only with Purdue but just the whole West Lafayette community?

Rob Wynkoop:

One of the things that Adam and I have worked on as we’ve pursued commercial flight was, yeah, there was an important aspect of travel for the university, for other corporate partners, but also for the greater community. If we can prove, which we think we can, that the supply and the demand is there for people to fly out, that then brings other airlines in to be interested in coming here.

And so, I think one of our long-term, mid to long-term goals is let’s get this current service off and running and then have some conversations with other types of couriers who maybe fly to vacation locations. Whether it’s Florida or to Vegas, or to California. Those types of airlines, they love flying out of smaller airports like ours and we’ve had previous conversations with them. And so, we think this new service will help jump-start continued conversations that really will be great things for our community.

Kate Young:

That’s a perfect example of a ripple effect that you’re anticipating.

Rob Wynkoop:

Absolutely.

Kate Young:

Are there any other effects that you see happening with this reintroduction?

Rob Wynkoop:

You’ve got that for the community. I think it changes, I think, the perspective that we have on the world stage because just the access that you now get to, not just across the country, but across the world and how easy it is to get here. To get access to the great corporations that are in this community. The great university, obviously, that’s in this community. This becomes an easier place to get to and more attractive for just a whole host of other opportunities really.

Kate Young:

In February 2024, it was announced that the new terminal at the Purdue University Airport would be named after Amelia Earhart, one of the most iconic aviators in history. Amelia was an instructor and advisor in careers for women at Purdue from 1935 to 1937. She also flew out of Purdue University Airport in the 1930s when it became the nation’s first university-owned airport.

In August 2023, Purdue trustees gave approval to plan, finance, and construct this new terminal. Construction is scheduled to start in June 2024 and be completed in August 2025. The approximately 10,000-square-foot facility, which will be located west of the existing terminal will include a waiting area, baggage claim, restrooms, and ticketing and passenger screening. I asked Adam about the forthcoming completion of this new terminal. He shares what aspects of its functionality he’s most eager to see come to fruition.

Adam Baxmeyer:

A joke with a friend of mine I went to college with, he came back to campus in December to visit. He hasn’t been here in 20 years, and we worked together a long time ago. I was a student, I worked for United at the airport, and the terminal looked the same as it did 25 years ago, right? And now, it’s starting to change, and we’re making these renovations at our current terminal so we can support this initial service with Southern.

But the next terminal, what we’re really looking forward to is just having the ability to have more space. As Rob was talking about before, there are other airlines that have shown interest in larger aircraft, and I think it’s interesting. Rob and I have been to quite a few conferences and met with a bunch of different airline folks, and spoiler alert, a lot of them went to Purdue.

So, they’ll say, “Adam, Rob, this is great. You’ve got a market here. We look at your numbers, we see people are flying, we think it’s going to work. What are you doing with the terminal?” That’s always a question that’s come up. Our current terminal is cool. It’s got a lot of history and it’s been a lot of different things, but this new building is specifically designed and built to accommodate airline passengers, which is needed, especially for larger-size aircraft. So, that’s what I’m most excited about is that opportunity that we’ll have in the future.

Kate Young:

And how do you envision that new building just enhancing the user experience when people are coming to fly out of here?

Adam Baxmeyer:

It’s not going to look like it’s from the ’70s, so it’s going to look very good. I tried a marketing idea saying that you travel so fast to our airport you go back in time, it didn’t work. So, this new one’s going to be very, very Purdue. It’s this gold and black, but this clean, industrial, functional look. And I think one thing that’s interesting, when we put this terminal together, form always follows function, and this is going to be safe, clean, efficient. We don’t want you to have to spend a whole lot of time at the terminal, that’s the key. We’d like you to come in, be comfortable for a few minutes, get on your plane and get on your way, or on the reverse, grab your luggage and get to where your destination is.

Rob Wynkoop:

Our hope is that you spend as little time as possible in this airport. And so, as Adam said, we’ve designed it exactly for that. Get in, go through security, get on the airplane, and move on. It doesn’t have to be big and beautiful to do that, it just has to be functional. I love it because that’s Purdue, that’s what Purdue is all about. It fits into everything about the ethos of this place.

Kate Young:

I think it’s safe to say nobody enjoys spending a ton of time in an airport. Adam is a proud Purdue University and Purdue Global alum. He shares more about what his role with the airport means to him. So, Adam, you mentioned you went to school here, you’re a proud Purdue alum. What has it been like coming back to your alma mater and leading this?

Adam Baxmeyer:

It’s been great. I think the first thing I noticed when I came back in 2016, some of my professors were still here. What a fantastic opportunity for me to get to know them as an adult as opposed to a student. And then I would spend time on campus, and you walk across, and you have memories of fun football games or events you went to on campus.

Now, it’s just so amazing that campus has just… It changes all the time, the main campus, and we just haven’t really been able to keep pace out here at the airport and now we’re catching up. I remember the first time that I heard about the Aerospace Innovation District I think is what it was originally called. I was reading an article and was at another airport out of state, “This is cool. I’d love to be a part of this.”

But it was the whole vision. It wasn’t just there’s an airport. It was everything that surrounds it, and now when you look down here, we’ve got Saab and Rolls Royce and the Hypersonic Lab, and the list keeps growing and growing and growing. That just doesn’t exist other places. So, to answer your question, it’s fun to be back and be part of this change where the airport’s been here since 1930. But I think that the next few years are going to be one of those times when we look back where there was a lot of change that happened in a short period of time.

Kate Young:

The significance of this historic movement both for the airport and the broader community, what does that mean to you as a boilermaker yourself?

Adam Baxmeyer:

Yeah. So, I remember the first time I came to campus, I think it was in 1994. I was a high school student. I came here and I saw a basketball game. I remember Glenn Robinson playing, and I came out to the airport a couple of times when I was in high school. And you have a different optic when you look at it, right? I was looking at the classrooms, I was looking at the campus, I was looking at the facilities how, “This is great. I would love to come here as a student.”

And then you graduate, and you move on, and when I would look back at Purdue, I just thought, “Purdue’s great. It’s home. I’m happy to be here.” But you start to look at the rest of the community too and you have different optics and metrics as you get older and you think, “There’s a lot going on in this community outside of Purdue.” We’ve got Wabash National, we’ve got now Subaru, GE Aviation, Caterpillar, all these great jobs. The economy here is very robust.

So, when I was at other airports, and I’d look back and I’d think, “Well, I don’t know what I don’t know. I don’t know what the market’s like.” And you can’t change things from the outside, so I wanted to come and just be a part of it. And then when I got here and started working with Rob, and one of the first things we talked about was a catchment study, where’s everybody going to? And it was impressive. The numbers of people traveling were much higher than I thought. I thought that was true, but it was nice to find out that it was true.

Kate Young:

When we look at what’s happening at Purdue, how do you anticipate the reintroduction of commercial flights aligning with industry trends and best practices in airport management?

Adam Baxmeyer:

Since I’ve graduated the first time, there’s been a lot of things that have been going on. When I was a student here, there were lots of airlines. There was American, United, Delta, but there was also airlines like Northwest and Continental, and a lot of these other airlines, US Airways, that don’t exist anymore. There was a lot of consolidation that happened, which made it much more competitive.

The world changed on September 11th, that introduced TSA. It changed travel patterns for a while, right? And things always are evolving. One thing that’s really different as opposed to 20-some-odd years ago is the competitive nature. For us to gain this service, any service, somebody else is going to have to lose. Not completely, but there’s a limited number of airplanes, there’s a limited number of pilots, mechanics, aviation professionals that go to school here at Purdue. So, it’s very, very competitive.

I would say that the big difference here is we’re one of the few places that are seeing any addition, any growth. Most airports you look at, it’s holding on to what you have. So, to actually add a flight when you haven’t had service, that’s really unheard of. And we were talking about the TSA a couple of weeks ago. I think this is the first time in, I believe it was 10 years or more, that they’ve actually put a dot on the map, which is fantastic.

Kate Young:

That’s exciting.

Adam Baxmeyer:

Yeah.

Kate Young:

You’ve touched on this a little bit, but what does it mean to you to see Purdue’s community plus the Greater Lafayette community come together all for this airport?

Adam Baxmeyer:

I was thinking about this earlier too. It goes beyond that too, I think it’s even all the way down to Indianapolis. And what I mean by that is remember I was back at Purdue for maybe a month or two, and the first time I got to go visit our friends at Indiana Department of Transportation, and my wife is from Indianapolis, I’ve been there many times, but I never had been to one of the government centers and the state buildings downtown. And I remember, on the side of it, it said, “Indiana, a state that works.” What a cool double entendre, right? It’s got two different meanings here.

And then the more I started to interact with INDOT and then the local community, the mayors of Lafayette and West Lafayette, and the greater Tippecanoe County. And then when we started to look at the support for this new terminal and looking at getting money for it, we went to the surrounding counties, and it’s… What I’m getting at is other states that I’ve worked at, I don’t want to say any… I’ll highlight what’s better here, not what’s lacking in other places, it’s the fact that people understand and believe and actually work there.

I’m a perfect example. I live in Tippecanoe County, I work in West Lafayette, but I also spend money in Lafayette. What’s good for one community is good for the region, right? That’s not true in other cities. So, when we have these announcements of what’s going on at the airport that are always supported, and it’s legitimate, true, heartfelt support from the community, and I love that. That’s one of the things that’s great about Lafayette.

Kate Young:

Now, for Rob’s role within auxiliary services, he manages things like procurement services, real estate and space administration, the Purdue Memorial Union, and airport operations to name a few. He digs into more about his role at Purdue. So, Rob, you’ve played a significant role in managing all different types of aspects of Purdue’s operations. Give us some insights into how the Purdue Flies initiative aligns with those broader goals and visions from an operations standpoint.

Rob Wynkoop:

Our group in auxiliary services are fortunate to do a lot of really cool things over the last 5-10 years here at Purdue. And whether it’s upgrading the union or bringing an upgraded hotel back here, and just the opportunity to partner with private companies. But also, there’s a really strong student aspect to these things.

At the hotel, our students from hospitality and tourism management get to work, get on-the-job training on a daily basis, and get credit for that. Some of the goes we’ve done with dining, bringing in companies like Aramark and Saxbys who give us these student-run cafés that hire and are completely run by students. And every semester you have a CEO student who is in charge of profit and loss, hiring, staffing, all the operational aspects, and they get credit for that.

I mean that is unique and that is really cool that we’re able to bring these partnerships to really just bring a better experience for our students. And that’s very true also with this partnership with Southern Airways here at the airport. They already are working with our School of Aviation and Technology on ways to partner with our current students and future students. Job opportunities, on-the-job training, research opportunities with the researchers in the school.

I mean it is really exciting. That is one of the great things, I think, about working here at Purdue too. It’s just that partnership that you’re able to get between the academy, and also us folks in administration who are just trying to run things on a day-to-day basis. So, it’s just a phenomenal opportunity.

Kate Young:

With your experience and your role, how do you anticipate the reintroduction of commercial flights will impact this whole landscape for the university?

Rob Wynkoop:

Yeah, we’re going to learn as we go. We’ve got some plans in place. We’re certainly going to learn as we go. I don’t think it’ll change too much immediately because Southern is a small commuter, so the planes won’t be large airplanes. But as I think this grows for us and we get larger and larger entities interested and flying in and out of here, one of the legacy carriers, that really picks up really the work that Adam and his team are going to have to do. Making sure that all of our safety precautions are followed, that we’re able to get these planes fueled up and back out on a quick basis.

So, it will change, and we’ll probably have to grow our organization. And that also would include just some of the other economic development opportunities that are happening in this community close to the airport. Rolls Royce, as Adam said, Saab, others. I mean this will become a more and more busy place, and so, we’re going to have to step it up a little bit to keep up with all the growth we’re going to see out here.

Kate Young:

Rob shares more about why the Purdue University Airport is so unique.

Rob Wynkoop:

Adam and I have often commented that this is actually the largest classroom on campus. It really, really is. It is the second-busiest airport in the State of Indiana just because there are so many take-offs and landings, operations that our students are doing every day. I mean they are in class in an airplane, taking off, landing, practicing maneuvers, things like that. This is a classroom, and so, to be able to bring commercial air service back to the largest classroom on campus is just really, really cool.

Kate Young:

As I mentioned earlier, Rob oversees a lot of different areas on campus. He shares what he loves about working with the airport that’s special from those other areas.

Rob Wynkoop:

So, I remember when I first came to Purdue and said, “Hey, Rob, would you manage the airport?” I said, “Okay, I don’t know anything at all about airports other than I’ve flown in and out of them.” But the first thing that I noticed here is that the largest hangar on this airport is Hangar 4, and it was blue. Why do we have a blue hangar at Purdue University? So, the first thing we did is we painted it gold, and we put a big P on it because I wanted people to know when they land here, particularly our athletic opponents, you are at Purdue.

Kate Young:

Sure, love it.

Rob Wynkoop:

So, we did that, and then we didn’t do too much after that for a little while until we started on the commercial service. But it is the most unique, really, workplace, I think, on campus. You’ve got activity nonstop with airplanes coming in and out, with research going on out here, and all kinds of research occurs at this airport with the School of Aviation and Technology, with private partners. It is a unique place, and it’s just enormous. I mean it is gigantic. It’s just a unique place. There’s no other place like it on campus, and it is the largest classroom on this university campus.

Adam Baxmeyer:

The thing about this airport, and Rob talked about it a second ago, it’s the second busiest in the state, but nationwide too, we’re like 98th or 99th percentile in terms of take-offs and landings. And there’s no such thing as a training airport. We have to follow all the same rules as everybody else, there’s just a lot of churning that occurs here.

So, what’s interesting is we have students from School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, and also from Purdue Aviation learning all day long. And then, all of a sudden, you’ll have business jets come in. And then we’ve got cargo airplanes out here today that are removing parts in and out for local manufacture. Soon we’re going to have passengers coming in and out, sports teams.

So, there’s a lot of different activity that occurs here, and the students when they take off and land, I just remember I’d flown here before too and I was a student. So, when I look out the window, I just remember 20-some-odd years ago, there was somebody looking at me when I took off and landed here too. It’s a fun experience.

Kate Young:

Yeah, absolutely.

Adam Baxmeyer:

Especially when, every once in a while, I’ll run into Mom or Dad downstairs, and they’ve got their nose pressed up against the glass and, “I’ll walk you outside on the ramp.” “Okay, that’s really cool.” I’ve had that experience probably three or four times where I’ve just happened upon a parent, and it goes from this nervousness to they’re beaming, right?

Kate Young:

They’re proud.

Adam Baxmeyer:

Oh, absolutely, as they should be, and that’s cool. Overall, it’s very exciting.

Kate Young:

I asked Adam and Rob what they will be most excited to see on the opening day of the airport, seeing that first commercial flight take off and beyond.

Rob Wynkoop:

Flight is just part of this place, part of Purdue. It is so important to so many aspects of Purdue. I mean start with Amelia Earhart and what she has meant to this university. We’ve got a great School of Aviation and Transportation Technology. We have world-class research going on here in jet propulsion. Daggonit, we should have air service, and so, finally, I mean we can add that to the long list of just what this university means in terms of flight really over the last 50-100 years.

Kate Young:

What do you think the community will be most excited about?

Rob Wynkoop:

Adam and I have met with many members of the community, and they are excited. I think they are excited to not have to sit in their car for three hours driving to O’Hare or driving to Midway to get on an airplane to go on vacation. And so, I think just the flexibility that it provides for our community, the ease, the convenience that Adam has said. There’s nothing better than coming home from a long trip and not having to drive an hour plus to get home or three hours to get home. We make it so much easier, I think. And the demand is here, and so, it’s about time that we got it going again.

Adam Baxmeyer:

And I think it also brings a sense of pride to the community, right? Having your name back on the map.

Kate Young:

We’ve touched on, a little bit, the history of aviation. What else makes Purdue unique in your eyes? Why are you proud to be boilermakers?

Adam Baxmeyer:

Really quick story. When I first came back to Purdue and I was settling into the office a little bit and trying to figure out where things were at, and I still remember one time I opened this drawer, and it was just filled with photographs. It was almost like looking through the family photo album through the years, and some of them were black and white, and some of them were color.

And then I remember going through this, and all of a sudden, I found a picture of one of the former people at my position. I think there’s only been six starting with Captain Aretz. I believe it was Fliedermeier who I think it was the third director, and he’s shaking hands in the hallway with Neil Armstrong. And I look at the date, and it was before Neil Armstrong went to the moon. It was in the ’60s, but he hadn’t gone to the moon yet.

And it wasn’t that it was being disrespected, but it was with a stack of other cool pictures. There was one of Eisenhower, he came to the airport and signed it. I’m like, “This stuff needs to go to the archives,” and it did go there. We have so much history. And so, when I see this, one thing that I’ve thought of is now when I’m talking to a student in the hallway, he didn’t know that he was talking to the first person that was going to go to the moon. Maybe I’ve already talked to the first student that’s going to go back to the moon, or the first one that goes to Mars, or does something else significant like that.

So, that’s why I’m always nice to the students so that they remember me when they come back. But it’s just that we look to the past and that’s great, but I’m more excited about where we’re going in the future. This is the key component to that.

Kate Young:

That’s a great story. I’m glad you shared that with us.

Rob Wynkoop:

I would say I’ve been at Purdue just over 10 years now, and when we first started talking about bringing commercial services back to Purdue and to Lafayette, there were a lot of people said, “Great idea, but really, really skeptical. But go ahead, try it. See what you can do.” As I thought about that, I’m like that’s what I love about Purdue. You’ve got a creative idea, go ahead, try it. Keep going at it. Or someone comes up with a creative idea, go ahead and see if you can execute on that, and you’re allowed to do that here.

I’ve been allowed to do that, Adam has been allowed to do that. We’ve been allowed to fail, and it took a while, right? I mean it’s taken us four-plus years to make this happen, but we learned from the things that maybe we didn’t do right the first time, and we’re allowed to come back and keep trying. And just as I was thinking about that question, I’m like that’s also, I think, what Purdue is about.

As we push forward in so many different ways, it’s okay to be creative, it’s okay to give it a shot. It’s okay to come back to the drawing board and try it again. Yeah, it’s just whether you’re here as a student or you’re a researcher or you’ve been working here, you have a lot of flexibility and opportunity to do that. And that really is, it’s a unique place. There’s not a lot of places you can go and have those kinds of opportunities over and over again. It’s really cool.

Adam Baxmeyer:

I think during the 150 Years campaign there was that one commercial that said, “We’ve done the numbers and we’re not afraid to take the leap,” right? And that’s exactly what Rob was just… That’s what popped in my mind. It’s not that there’s no risk. We’ve looked at it, let’s jump. We can do it.

Kate Young:

And the persistence of trying and trying again.

Rob Wynkoop:

Yeah, and look, we are proud of everything we do here, and we want you to know what’s going on here, but we’re not over the top, we’re not brash about it. We got it done, let’s move on to the next thing. And I think this air service endeavor that Adam and I have taken on has been just a great example of that. We’ve been allowed to try and to pursue.

Kate Young:

As for these two boilermakers’ next giant leaps?

Rob Wynkoop:

So, I’ve got a cheesy but true response to you in answer for that. I think when school gets out for my kids, which is the end of May, we’re going to take a trip to Chicago, and we’ll start by leaving this airport, the end of May, early June, fly to Chicago. We’ll go to a Cubs game, we’ll go to a couple of museums, we’ll visit some friends, we’ll spend a couple of nights in the city. And then we’ll fly back and then have a 10-minute car ride home. That’s my next giant leap.

Kate Young:

I love it.

Adam Baxmeyer:

We’ve got a runway that we’re repaving this summer. We’re building a new terminal, we’re renovating this terminal, getting this airline up and running here, dealing with TSA. So, for me, this is great. We celebrate it, and then the next day we’ve got to go back and keep working on the next thing.

So, I’m sure that we’ll use it too. My wife travels a lot for work, and I know that she’s going to be happy about having that connection home as opposed to through another city. Great community to live in, and this is just another reason why. Direct service to really one stop we can get you anywhere in the world.

Kate Young:

Now, when we started working on this special episode, we knew it was important to tie Purdue’s nearly 100-year legacy in aviation excellence into the story celebrating the Purdue University Airport and its return of commercial flight services. And this is where Tom Carney comes in. Tom is a proud boilermaker who graduated with multiple degrees from Purdue and later went on to become the head of the Department of Aviation Technology.

He kicked off his Purdue journey in 1967 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in professional pilot technology in 1971 before going on to earn a master’s and PhD from Purdue. Tom spent more than 46 years as faculty at the university starting in 1972 and ending in 2018 when he retired as an emeritus professor. If you’re curious about any of the history behind Purdue’s aviation education, Tom Carney is the person to ask, so we were honored to have him join us on This Is Purdue. Here’s my conversation with Tom.

Tom, thank you so much for joining us on This Is Purdue, the official university podcast. We know you’re a great storyteller, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. You’ve witnessed so many milestones with Purdue’s aviation history. You were here for 46 years as a professor, as a researcher. What do you think the foundation and the evolution of the aviation education, why is it so special here? Tell us about the history. Walk us through everything that you’ve been through, through your time at Purdue.

Tom Carney:

Sure, and thank you for having me. It’s a delight to be with you, and to share some facts and some stories. I think what makes Purdue Aviation special, it really comes down to the people who formed it, created it, nurtured it, the people who teach, and the staff that we have. To a person, we’ve had really a special group, and we still do.

Also, I think it’s unique because of the depth of the laboratories we have. We’re in one right now. They’re very extensive and they were almost from the beginning of the department. And then I think the depth of the curricula. That’s because of the faculty and because of their knowledge about aviation and the aviation industry worldwide. And then, finally, the fourth part of that is the quality of the students. We have always attracted some of the best and brightest of students that come to Purdue. That’s why it’s a special place.

Kate Young:

Walk us through the biggest leaps for Purdue Aviation throughout your time at Purdue. What are some of those big milestones and achievements?

Tom Carney:

Well, I came as a student in 1967, and I came in the professional pilot program. When I came, one of the attractions was Purdue Aeronautics Corporation. The university operated an airline, a supplemental carrier, and in those days, they had World War II era airplanes, DC-3s and DC-6s. And so, my classmates and I learned about those airplanes, and we learned from, in part, professors who had been in the service. We flew through the airline with World War II heroes in my book. They flew bombers, they flew transports, some of them flew fighters. So, they brought that knowledge and that can-do attitude with aircraft.

And so, we learned from them, and then, while I was a student, that was discontinued, and Purdue Airlines Incorporated was formed. And Purdue didn’t have all of that airline, but we had Professor Maris, our department head, was still on the board, and they were DC-9s, and so we went to the jet age. And so, my classmates and I got to learn about jets and modern aviation if you will as well.

So, that was a great leap. We had along with it, the airline ceased, actually, in 1971, and the faculty looked for, “What can we do to replace that?” And they were able to get a 707 simulator from American Airlines and started a flight engineer program. That was a leap, and I should say that my focus sounds like it’s flight because that was, as a faculty member, what I was most associated with. But as a department head, of course, I was associated with all of the programs, and value all of those.

So, there was the flight engineer program and the adoption of even more large-scale simulation at a time that other institutions didn’t have that. And then we started flying what in essence is a corporate flight department. We had a donated twin-engine airplane, a Navajo. We had surplus airplanes, Cessna 310s. That grew under Dr. Beering’s leadership and support into turboprops.

We had King Airs, two models, four different airplanes of King Airs. A corporate jet and that was then traded for a brand-new Beechjet, another corporate jet. And so, as a faculty member, a faculty captain, I flew those with our students. Those also were, in those days, especially, unparalleled anywhere in the world to have a university flight program that students actually flew those kinds of airplanes to real locations with whatever the weather of the day was.

And I had the great honor of flying at least once with all the presidents from Dr. Hovde through President Daniels at least once all of them. And so, that was a great career piece as well. And then, I think, certainly, our Aeronautical Engineering Technology program has grown. Great faculty, great students, and great laboratories there, and we’re sitting, as I said, in one right now. And so, this engine that’s right next to us, it’s pretty much state-of-the-art. And that depth and amount of engines surrounding us, there’s an airframe laboratory in another hangar that’s similarly very well-equipped, growth into electronics.

So, all of those things have been great leaps and have kept us at the forefront. And I think finally is the growth in the number of students that we have. When I first came, my class was a large class and there were 26 of us. Well, now, there’s a lot more than that. And so, all of those things were leaps, I think.

Kate Young:

Absolutely, and you shared a little bit about the growth of different programs. Can you just share a brief overview of some of the programs Purdue offers within aviation?

Tom Carney:

Sure. Well, I spoke of Aeronautical Engineering Technology or AET. That is the current manifestation of what started as the first program in aviation that Jim Maris started way back in the mid-1950s. And it’s a great program. It produces highly qualified technicians that are valued not only in aviation but in a lot of other fields as well because of their expertise and knowledge. Aviation management, professional flight, and then UAS, unpiloted aeronautical systems.

And then I should also make a leap here. One of the leaps we had was graduate education. In the early days of the College of Technology or the School of Technology, it was all undergraduate, for the most part. And as we grew as a department, and then now as a school within the college, graduate education is an important piece as well, both master’s and PhD level.

Kate Young:

And how has all that history of these former Purdue Aviation programs, how has that provided the foundation for where we are today, and how successful everything going on here at Purdue is today?

Tom Carney:

If you go back to the very beginning and look at that Purdue Aeronautics Corporation development, and there was a gentleman named Grove Webster, who in World War II was brought here from Washington as part of the civilian pilot training program. And Jerry Goldman who became a dear friend of mine who was the director of flight operations, chief pilot then director of flight operations for PAC and Purdue Airlines, they had a dream of if we have a professional pilot program, why don’t we have an airline for them to learn at if they’re going to be airline pilots? Just like, for a medical school, having a teaching hospital.

And so, that’s what that airline was about, that’s what those corporate airplanes were about, and that was the foundation, if you will. Jim Maris was a magnificent leader. He was a World War II hero. He hired me twice and a number of other people of my era. He was able to do things on a shoestring. We had early American everything, but we made it work, and each one of those labs developed and got better and better, bigger and bigger, and that’s where we are now. And so, with a vision and the ability to do a lot with very little for a long time, that allowed us to create things, as I said earlier, that we were almost without peer.

Kate Young:

As I said at the beginning of this episode, our This Is Purdue team had the opportunity to check out the flight simulators in the Holleman-Niswonger Simulator Center. This unique center features several types of flight training devices for hands-on training in controlled environments. Tom discusses why the experiential learning at Purdue is so unique, and how these simulators here make our aviation programs stand out from other institutions.

Tom Carney:

It’s the degree of simulation, and the fidelity, it’s called, of simulation. There are different levels of simulation. There are computers that drive a cockpit with instruments and visuals. So, our students come and fly with general aviation airplanes. They start with single-engine airplanes. They work their way up to multi-engine airplanes. And then with the large-scale simulators, now they’re going to be flying jets. Whether it’s a Boeing airplane or an Airbus airplane or whether it’s a Hawker corporate airplane.

It’s that same, without having an airline, having that same teaching hospital idea. They’ve already seen airline-quality equipment. They’ve already flown a simulator that feels exactly like the airplane. They have a depth of knowledge of systems that I think is probably true that very few of our peer institutions have. They also have great programs as well, but that depth of knowledge and that experience before they actually get out into the airline world makes them leaders throughout their career.

And that’s another key, I think. Because we’re at Purdue. Because it’s a great world-class research institution and a great Big Ten school, the students not only have the aviation expertise and knowledge, but they’re taught physics by a physics professor, and they’re taught math by a math professor, and English by an English professor and so forth. And they get to see great Big Ten sports as well. And I think that we create not just technicians, but we create leaders. That’s a lifelong, career-long capability and foundation that is pretty rare.

Kate Young:

We wanted to share some behind-the-scenes moments from our team in one of these full-motion simulators with Tom.

Tom Carney:

Okay, so this is a Hawker jet. It’s a corporate jet, generally, that’s what it’s used for. Twin-engine jet airplane. This is a Level D flight simulator. Level D is the highest level of fidelity. So, by the FAA requirements, this airplane flies like, feels like, looks like the real airplane. And for a pilot that’s being type-rated in this airplane, for the pilot in command, you have to be type-rated. If you already have a jet type rating and enough flight hours, you can do the entire type rating in the simulator, generally, and your first flight could be with passengers in the airplane because the fidelity of the simulator. To have a Level D simulator for a collegiate flight program, I think there may be one or two other programs that have it, but it’s really rare.

There are a lot of flight training devices, and they do a good job, but they don’t have to be as high fidelity to the exact control pressures, field sounds. I mean the sounds that are generated, the picture on the visual, it’s day/night. It’s extremely accurate.

Kate Young:

Now, the seats, controls, and digitized displays in the Hawker are accurate to within one-sixteenth of an inch of a real plane’s equipment. As Tom and I sat in the cockpit, we could see the projection screens, which simulate any weather condition. And the instruments and displays respond exactly as their real counterparts would. This simulator allows student pilots and copilots to experience lifelike taxiing, flying, and landing experiences. Okay, and speaking of landing experiences.

Tom Carney:

I think she should be the captain, don’t you?

Kate Young:

Sure!

Kate Young:

Okay. I got to be the captain in another flight simulator for a few minutes as I landed our team into New York City’s JFK Airport. My co-captain for this trip was our podcast social media lead Maria, and to be honest, I’m not sure she quite trusted my landing abilities.

Kate Young:

Should I go down at all?

Speaker 6:

Heading for those big white markers. Move just to the left just a bit then maybe come back.

Kate Young:

Oh my Gosh!

Speaker 6:

And maybe push on the right pedal to go to the right, left pedal to go to the left.

Kate Young:

I definitely jolted a little bit. How do you feel, Maria?

Maria:

I’m feeling good.

Kate Young:

I’m not feeling good. I’m going off the runway…. PHEW I got us safely on the ground.

Speaker 4:

Great job, Kate! You can add pilot to your resume.

Kate Young:

Our social team always has fun at our podcast shoots, but this afternoon was certainly one of our favorite experiences. We are so thankful that the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology allowed us to experience the simulators firsthand for this special episode. Also, if you want to see these simulators in action, head over to our podcast YouTube page youtube.com/@ThisIsPurdue to check out our videos right inside the cockpits.

Okay, back to my conversation with Tom about Purdue’s history in aviation education. How do you think Purdue Aviation’s work, research, and education has affected this whole industry for the better when you look back and reflect?

Tom Carney:

Well, again, I think the fact that we provided the industry with the quality of graduates that we have, and we have a wonderful reputation. Our graduates typically wear lanyards for their identification that say Purdue University, and lots of boiler up, and go Boilers, and that kind of thing. But when they walk into a cockpit or they’re a technician, that Purdue degree says so much. And that’s part of what we’ve done is the quality of what we’ve prepared them for.

The research part is newer, but some of our AET professors, in particular, are really expert on alternative fuels. There’s concern with carbon impact of aviation with sustainable fuels, and when you put a fuel in an airplane, it has to pass a lot of rigorous tests to be sure that when you get to altitude, something unforeseen doesn’t happen in the fuel system or the engines.

And so that’s a very orderly process, and we have some professors that are really, I think, at the forefront. And making a difference, human factors particularly in the flight area. We have professors that are doing human factors and how people learn, how people interact in the cockpit, those kinds of things. And it’s growing as we grow the research and the graduate program.

Kate Young:

I know Donna Beering, the Former President Beering’s daughter-in-law, she said you shouldn’t be excited that I’m a female pilot, you should be excited that I’m a Purdue pilot. So, that touches on what you just shared there. So, I know you have a lot of fun stories to tell. You told us you’ve flown all of these different Purdue presidents. What are some other favorite memories? You’ve flown Coach Joe Tiller, President Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama. Tell us about some of those stories reflecting back on your career here at Purdue.

Tom Carney:

Well, let me first say that… Again, I’ve talked about Dr. Beering a little bit, and he was hugely impactive on supporting aviation education. He was hugely impactive with the support of all of Purdue, but he was an MD, he was in the Air Force, he was a physician to the original seven astronauts. And so, he knew lots about aviation and he knew the value of having aircraft to take key people to key places on Purdue business while also being a laboratory for graduates.

And so, we flew Dr. Beering and Mrs. Beering, wonderful people, and wonderful ambassadors for Purdue, and they treated us like family. And so, particularly in the Tiller days when every year we went to a bowl game, we had three turbine airplanes and three captains and copilots. We almost always had all the airplanes there, and they treated us, again, like family. And so, they insisted that we would eat together many times, or we went to alumni programs. When we took Dr. Beering to games, he had great tickets and he always made sure we had great seats and just fabulous, fabulous people and a wonderful opportunity.

You mentioned several noted people, the Dalai Lama. When we saw that we were going to be providing transportation service for him, we picked him and his group up at Bloomington, Indiana that is, at that other school. We had to be vetted by the State Department, and their security people were there. They knew all about us, I guess, and we were taught some protocols.

And one of the protocols was that we were not to shake hands with His Holiness, or not to touch him or anything like that. And we were taught how to properly do this as we met him. And they said, “You can only shake hands with him if he puts his hand out.” And I was the one that brought him here, and my colleague brought some of his other group. I had him and his brother on my airplane.

You might find this interesting, or the listeners might that they had the other airplane… They had me take off first because they were concerned about security. After he got to the airplane, the head of security asked me how soon I could get him in the air. And so, I said, “About five minutes.” And he said, “Okay.”

So, I took off, and it was a cloudy day, so we entered the clouds and we disappeared, and then my colleague took off with the other group. And we were told that en route, since I took off first, he was supposed to land first. Just like with the President of the United States, they have four helicopters, and you don’t know which one he’s on. So, in case somebody was here for security, and so, we did that. That was an interesting thing working with the controllers because I was ahead, and I had to be brought out, my colleague brought around.

But anyway, when I met him, first thing he did was smile and bow and shake my hand. When we got here and I shut the engines down and I had to go open the door, I walked by him, and he put his hand up like this and took my hand. And then when he got off, he shook hands with me again. And so, I don’t know if I ever did bow, but I got to shake hands with him. He’s a wonderful-

Kate Young:

Oh, that’s incredible.

Tom Carney:

Wonderful passenger and great person. Jimmy Carter, wonderful statesman too, and that same colleague actually picked him up in Chicago and brought him here to speak, and then I took him home to Georgia after he spoke. And there we had to be vetted by the Secret Service, and we had to put the airplane in a hangar, and it had to be secure. When he came here, there was a huge cavalcade of cars, limos from the Hall of Music where he’d spoken, police cars, flashing lights.

My copilot and I were standing at attention by the airplane. Dr. Beering introduced him to both of us, and then he met with and shook hands with all the people that had served him for his visit, and I thought that was fabulous. We got in the airplane. Our chief of maintenance closed the door and made sure it was secure. Started the engines, within five minutes there I think we were airborne, and that airplane was the first jet we had. It was a little slow in climbing, it was a little slow airspeed-wise.

We still went above 30,000, but we got a direct clearance, which we would have never gotten, all the way direct to our destination. Of course, it was close to midnight, but I think because the tower stayed open, I think they told the controllers, they told each controller ahead of time that we had Mr. Carter on board.

And the final thought with him, as tired as he was, and he looked pretty tired, but we had two Secret Service agents that rode with us, heavily armed. And when we got there, the Secret Service agents opened the door, which I really didn’t want them to do. I wanted to open the door just because that’s protocol. And they had him halfway to the Suburban, it’s always there where a former president is, and I thought, “Gee, we didn’t get to tell him what an honor it was to meet him and get to fly him.”

My copilot and I scrambled out and he got halfway to the Suburban and he turned back, and he called us both by name. And I thought, “Here’s a man that’s been in the most powerful position in the world, and he remembered a poor old country professor and unimportant student,” but pretty spectacular individual.

Kate Young:

That’s incredible.

Tom Carney:

And it was an incredible opportunity.

Kate Young:

Why is Purdue so special to you? Why did you stay here for decades? I’m sure you had other opportunities. What does this place mean to you?

Tom Carney:

Well, the things that I’ve described, and if I told you all the stories, we’d be here until Sunday. But like a lot of boilermaker folks, I bleed black and gold. And to be an aviation educator, to do what I wanted to do, and to try to make a difference in the lives of young people I care about. There is no place else I could have gone that would even have come close.

There’s no place else I could have gone and flown the former president or the Dalai Lama. The first and last astronauts to walk on the moon and so many others. I couldn’t have gone anywhere else. And yeah, I had opportunities to fly and probably to be hired elsewhere, but I knew if I went, my heart wouldn’t be there. It would be back here and that wouldn’t be fair.

There was a period there where my wife said, “Why don’t you go somewhere and be a dean?” And I could have done that. I was a department head, and the next step is to be a dean. And my answer there was, “It’s too far from the smell of jet fuel.” I have a cup that says, “I love the smell of jet fuel in the morning,” and I’d be too far from the airplanes because if you’re a dean, you just can’t do that.

Kate Young:

Do you have any stories of students coming back? You’ve taught thousands and thousands of students. Do you have any special stories or people who have come back to you and said, “Professor Carney, I would have never gotten these opportunities if you hadn’t been with me and teaching me all along”?

Tom Carney:

A lot. And not just me, we all do. I had one just a couple of days ago for a senior United Airline captain who’s… I call them my kids. Yeah, they do, and it means the world to me. And I try to say the true reward of what all of us here at Purdue who are professors, the true reward, I think, is in the lives and the success of our students. And so, I just tell them thanks for being the great and wonderful people they are, citizens, and practitioners. That’s the reward.

And yeah, you hear that a lot. My other, not just piloting, but aviation weather is my other discipline if you will, and so, I have a love-hate affair with them. The atmosphere mostly love, and teaching people how to fly safely in weather. How to know it’s not safe, don’t go, is really at the core of what I did in my teaching. And if you have a student come back and say, “You told me something that, at the time, I thought, ‘Why are you bothering to tell me that?’ And it really made a difference.” That really means a lot.

Kate Young:

As for Tom’s next giant leap, what would you say your next giant leap is?

Tom Carney:

Well, I’ve been retired from Purdue since the end of the fall semester of 2018. My wife would tell you that I failed miserably at retirement because I’ve been busy. I just completed a five-year tour, if you will, as the vice president of accreditation for the Aviation Accreditation Board International. And that was about 120% job effort, but it was another labor of love.

So, now, it’s time to really be retired. We have three wonderful daughters and their families, we’ve spent more time with them. I married my best friend and high school sweetheart, and I want to spend even more time with her with the time we have left. So, that’s what we’re going to do. A lot more of waking up in the morning and designing our day as opposed to having time constraints.

Kate Young:

Well, we can’t thank you enough for joining us. This has been really special. I really have enjoyed your stories. Tom is such an incredible storyteller, and we are so thankful he shared his knowledge and wisdom with us on This Is Purdue. Purdue’s legacy in aviation is rich with giant leaps that have pushed the world and our university forward again, and again, and again.

To book your next trip out of LAF, head over to purdue.edu/airport. And if you want to read more about the history of flight at Purdue, including Amelia Earhart’s legacy, check out the full story on The Persistent Pursuit. Just head over to stories.purdue.edu. Purdue writer Julie Beckwith goes in-depth about Purdue Flight and Amelia and her boilermaker ties. And remember, if you’d like to check out our podcast team’s experience landing a plane in one of those simulators, you can watch our videos on our podcast YouTube page.

This Is Purdue is hosted and written by me, Kate Young. Our podcast videography for this episode was led by Ted Schellenberger, Jon Garcia, Thad Boone, Alli Chaney, and Zach Mogensen. Our social media marketing is led by Maria Welch. Our podcast distribution strategy is led by Teresa Walker and Carley Eastman. Our podcast design is led by Caitlyn Freville. Our podcast photography is led by John Underwood. Our podcast team project manager is Rain Gu. Our podcast YouTube promotions is managed by Kirsten Bowman. Additional writing assistance is led by Sophie Ritz. And additional assistance for this episode was led by Dalani Young, Carley Calcao, and our This Is Purdue intern Caroline Keim.

Thanks for listening to This Is Purdue. For more information on this episode visit our website at purdue.edu/podcast. There you can head over to your favorite podcast app to subscribe and leave us a review. And as always, boiler up.