When you hear the words "student employee," what comes to mind?

Preparing food in dining halls?

Swiping cards at the bookstore?

Working behind the circulation desk at the library?

For some Miami University students, like Andres Brown-Ewing, in his second year at Miami, the workplace is a bit more unusual-the airport on Fairfield Road.

Brown-Ewing said the job requires more than answering a phone and filing papers. 

"On a typical day, we have to refuel planes, tow planes, research the local weather when a plane is approaching, check the fuel daily to make sure it's in good condition, sweep the floors-basically do everything," Brown-Ewing said.

Sky hands

Finding a job at the airport took some effort on Brown-Ewing's part.

Brown-Ewing, an Oxford resident, said he had to wait about a year for a position to open up before getting the job.

"I would swing out to the airport to see if there was an open position," he said. "Finally one day I heard of an opening, drove out there and applied for it on the spot."

Brown-Ewing is one of seven students currently employed at the airport, which is owned and operated by the university.

In addition to students, the university employs Scott Shaw as the manager of airport operations and chief mechanic and four part-time, retired pilots who live locally and have worked for airlines such as United and Delta, said Warren Elliott, a retired pilot filling in for Shaw.

Earning $7.70 an hour, junior Matt Weber, a zoology major, described his work at the airport as "pretty routine."

"I saw the job posted on Blackboard and thought it might be interesting," Weber said. "After I complete all the usual tasks for the day, I'm basically paid to answer the phone and do my homework."

One of Weber's tasks includes cleaning soot off the engine of Miami's own airplane, the Beechcraft KingAir C90B. The plane was built in 1993, but Miami purchased it in the last couple of years, according to Weber.

According to junior Brandon Piteo, a psychology major, there are no specific requirements for students to work at the airport, yet Piteo said an interest in aviation and the ability to balance school and a part-time job are important.

Piteo also said employees have to be confident on the job, especially because they're working with expensive equipment.

"You have to be confident when you're dealing with pilots, moving planes and refueling them," Piteo said. "Plus, there's usually only one person working at a time, so throughout all of the airport operations, you're required to at least have a general knowledge of airport directives and standards."

Each employee has to be familiar with a barometer and an altimeter, an instrument that measures air pressure to determine the altitude of an airplane above sea level, Brown-Ewing said.

Frequent fliers

With an average of two flights per day, Brown-Ewing described the airport as a low activity airport.

"It all depends on the season," Brown-Ewing said. "During the winter, the airport is almost completely dead, but during the summer there are a lot of pilots doing training flights, so it gets busier."

Elliott said the airport stores eight planes, including the one owned by Miami.

According to Piteo, the airport can accommodate everything from small single-engine planes to business jets.

"The majority of the people flying in here are parents," Piteo said. "Some parents fly as a hobby, other parents have enough money to fly in and see their kids for dinner and fly out, while other parents take advantage of executive flights and fly in on the business' dime."

"President Hodge, the upper administration and the football team away (game) doctors use the university plane the most," Brown-Ewing said. "But technically, any staff member can rent it out-including professors."

According to Adolph Haislar, senior associate vice president for financial and business services, any university department can request use of the university plane. Haislar said the university determines the roundtrip mileage and charges $2.60 per air mile.

Haislar said two pilots fly the plane with a maximum of four passengers, depending on the luggage weight.

Miami's plane is limited to short flights in the Midwest, said Haislar, as a trip to Los Angeles would require too many fuel stops.

Haisler said using the plane is never free and students cannot request usage.

President Hodge isn't the only high-profile person using the airport, though.

"One time when I was working, Dan Patrick, an ESPN anchor flew into the airport," Brown-Ewing said.

Weber said he anticipated Jay Leno's arrival to Oxford for September's Parent's Weekend.

"Everyone kept asking me if I got to meet Jay Leno when he flew in for parent's weekend this year," Weber said. "But apparently our runway isn't big enough for Leno's jet, so he had to fly into Hamilton's airport."

Weber said the airport's runway is 4,011 ft long, compared to an 8,000- to 12,000-foot runway used for commercial airplanes.

Over and out

Incoming pilots can land at the university airport 24 hours a day, but the airport is only staffed from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m, Piteo said.

When the airport is not staffed, Piteo said a system is in place to guide pilots during landing.

"Pilots can call into the airport's specific channel on the radio, which will trigger the runway lights to come on so they can land," Piteo said. "It keeps the airport operational, even if no one is physically here working."

Brown-Ewing said a disadvantage of landing at night without someone working is that pilots aren't able to refuel their planes.

Yet a safe nighttime landing is always a concern.

"I remember watching one guy attempt to land, and I don't think he had a clue what he was doing," Brown-Ewing said. "He was very close to crashing a couple of times."

Brown-Ewing also said he remembered when planes were trying to land in high winds caused by Hurricane Ike in September.

"We had a few planes arriving and departing during a bad storm as a result of Hurricane Ike," Brown-Ewing said. "And all of this was going on while the airport had no power. It was probably the scariest situation I've had to deal with at the airport."

In contrast, Piteo said he hasn't experienced any close calls-just moody ones.

"The worst thing you really deal with is pilots that get in bad moods after long flights," Piteo said. "One time a pilot was flying in from Florida after consistent rough weather. Every other word on the radio to me was one I wouldn't want to repeat."

Weber and Piteo both said obtaining their pilot's license in the future would be great, but for now they're content on land.

"It's an expensive sport to have an interest in," Weber said, "but it would be a great skill to know and utilize."

In contrast, Brown-Ewing said he's always been interested in aviation and hopes to work in a related field in the future.

"I'm working on my private pilot license right now," Brown-Ewing said. "And I'm hoping to become a commercial pilot one day."