This six-part series highlights academic projects completed by Walla Walla University students during their senior year.

Walla Walla University 2017 graduate, Jonathan Trautwein, used his senior project as an opportunity to work as an intern for Aero Air, an aviation service company based in Hillsboro, Oregon. Aero Air has different subdivisions in their company, such as medevac, firebombing, and charter. Trautwein focused his senior project on working with the Transplant Charter Services Providers by flying a surgical team to do human organ transplant.

With most of the flights based out of Seattle, Trautwein and his captain piloted either a Citation Mustang or a Citation CJ3 to Boeing Field to pick up the surgical team. They then flew the team to the location of the surgery and organ harvest.

“I really enjoyed the mission of flying,” says Trautwein. “It was cool knowing that you were taking a really sad situation for one family and giving hope to other families.”

The internship offered Trautwein a change of pace and new challenges from working at the WWU flight center. The jets he got to fly were much faster than the Cessna 172s he trained on, and the CJ3 had a regular Proline 21 FMS, which Trautwein had minimal experience with. Radio communications were also a bit different from what he had done earlier.

Trautwein now works full time as a pilot for Aero Air.

Posted Oct. 12, 2017