Daedalians Foundation Supports USD Student with Flight Training

Christian Welch crossed the tarmac and approached a Cessna 216AF at Brown Field Municipal Airport in the Otay Mesa community of San Diego.

He walked with the confidence of someone who had flown hundreds of times in his life, but in reality, he only had 11 flight hours under his belt. Welch hopped into the aircraft — alone. There was no flight instructor. No one to take control if things went awry. But if Welch was going to seriously consider a career as a military aviator, he would have to pass the test of his first solo flight. This meant acing both the takeoff and landing.

Welch doesn’t recall when he set his heart on becoming an aviator, he just knows that the skies have always called to him.

Welch, one of eight siblings, is a senior at the University of San Diego (USD). His childhood began in Texas before he moved with his mom and five younger siblings (his two older siblings already moved out) into an RV about 30 minutes south of Sedona, Arizona. 

To support his family, Welch took a position at the Mesa Grill inside Sedona Airport. The restaurant is known for its Southwestern cuisine and scenic views of small aircraft taking off and landing.

It was also known for its impromptu visits from Chuck Yeager, the U.S. Air Force officer known for becoming the first pilot in history to break the speed of sound.

The day he met Yeager, Welch was a high school junior, and admittedly, a little star struck. He asked for a picture with the legend and received some free words of wisdom. “Know your airplane. Know how it works, inside and out. Know its boundaries, and then you’ll be a good pilot,” Yeager shared.

Heeding his advice, Welch initially came to USD to study mechanical engineering, but shifted to industrial and systems engineering which he felt suited him better. 

“I still love to figure out how things work and make systems better, but I moved over to industrial and systems engineering because it gave me more time with my other commitments on campus and it gave me the opportunity to bring my strengths out,” Welch said. 

Welch also minors in naval science and is a Midshipman (MIDN 1/C) in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps San Diego (NROTC). During his first year at USD, Welch’s ears perked up when he heard the battalion mention a scholarship with the Daedalians Foundation that supports young people who are considering a military flying career with ground and flight training necessary to achieve their first solo flights in a fixed-winged aircraft.

He applied, but didn’t receive the scholarship.

“I was hoping to get the scholarship because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get this type of experience otherwise,” he said. 

Welch considered going back to work at an airport to continue earning money, but he knew that wouldn’t help him get the hands-on experience with an aircraft that he was looking for.

But in the words of Maya Angelou, “While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.”

Welch applied again. 

This time, he was one of two people selected in the San Diego area for the scholarship. He was outside of the Belanich Engineering Center when he received the good news. There was nothing else to do but immediately call his mother. 

“I started crying because this is something we’ve tried to do for a long time, we just didn’t have the necessary means,” he recalled. “It was a surreal moment.”

Welch’s first flight experience was like drinking water out of a firehose. The rookie didn’t have any experience flying a Cessna, or any aircraft for that matter. What was a rudder? How do I communicate through the radio? 

Some of these terms might have been located in the ground textbook Welch was provided with, but he was unaware of a 250-page reading assignment that was to be completed before his first day of ground school. Welch was flying blind.

“I was freaking out because that’s not the first impression you want to give after receiving a scholarship like this. I read nine chapters out of the textbook in two days to take notes and get back at it,” he said.

But that’s where Welch’s flight instructor Wes Weesner steps in. Weesner is a retired Navy captain who flew E-2’s during the Vietnam War. It was now his duty to ensure Welch succeeded.

Together, they practiced takeoffs and maneuvers two to three times a week. By the eighth flight, Weesner knew that Welch was ready for his first solo flight.

Welch had to complete one touch and go, landing on the runway and taking off again without coming to a complete stop, and land the aircraft. 

Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication about the term “touch and go,” leading Welch to perform multiple touch and go’s with an aircraft attempting to land right behind him on the runway.

“Air Traffic Control instructed me to maintain a straight-out departure, but I mistakenly turned to go downwind out of habit,” said Welch.

Despite the mistake, Welch remained calm. Then another monkey wrench.

“A Learjet landed and told me there might be a bit of turbulence as I headed downwind. I was really hoping there wouldn’t be any turbulence.”

In that moment, the standout quote from Top Gun Maverick gave Welch the reminder he needed: “Don’t think, just do.” 

He focused on the here and now and performed the most successful landing he’s had to date.

Welch received a tan flight jacket for completing his first solo flight with the Daedalian Foundation. His proud mother was present for the moment.

Since then, two more MIDN have secured the Daedalians Foundation Scholarship — Ethan Chebi and Sydney Brenneman. Welch provided insights and guidance to his peers as they applied for the scholarship.

"It means a lot to not only to receive the scholarship, but to help my peers have a similar experience,” said Welch. “I think that's the underlying idea of the scholarship, to pass on the love and excitement for aviation."

— Kelsey Grey '15 (BA)