Fighting Illini on the Ike

4/9/2013 Written by Susan Mumm

Five Aerospace Engineering alumni had a mini reunion when they found themselves working together recently on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69).

Written by Written by Susan Mumm

(l to r) AE Alums Mike Cebrzynski MS '94, Hank Zitnik BS '82, Alan Wirth BS '95, Paul Martin BS '06, and Jim Skerston BS '88.
(l to r) AE Alums Mike Cebrzynski MS '94, Hank Zitnik BS '82, Alan Wirth BS '95, Paul Martin BS '06, and Jim Skerston BS '88.
(l to r) AE Alums Mike Cebrzynski MS '94, Hank Zitnik BS '82, Alan Wirth BS '95, Paul Martin BS '06, and Jim Skerston BS '88.
Five Aerospace Engineering alumni had a mini reunion when they found themselves working together recently on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69).

Writes US Navy Flight Test Engineer Paul Martin, AE 06, "I recently completed a large project flight testing the new EA-18G aircraft at sea, on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. While out there, we discovered that five of our test team had all gone to U of I and gotten AE degrees. We took a picture on the flight deck, in front of one of our test aircraft." Working with Martin were Mike Cebrzynski MS 94, Hank Zitnik BS 82, Alan Wirth BS 95, and Jim Skerston BS 88.

According to the Navy, testing aircraft performance and handling at the carrier was an enormous effort, requiring a large team of both contract and government engineers and Navy test pilots.


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This story was published April 9, 2013.