December 04, 2017 - No. 094 In This Issue Praxair and GE Aviation Open New Advanced Jet Engine Coatings Facility in Ellisville, Mississippi New hybrid plane will add second electric engine as battery costs drop DHS Lacks Funding to Install New Screening Technology at Every Airport Pipistrel Partners With Chinese Mega Project Delta Airlines donates $2M to Auburn RFID Lab Documentary Highlights How the Aviation Industry is Working Together to Create an Adaptable Workforce Pipeline Lufthansa Technik Receives Approval for Transponder Modification for Airbus A320 Family 2018 Aviation Design Challenge Registration Fills in Record Time Aviation Minister visits Imperial's new Aerial Robotics Lab Astronaut on first Apollo spaceflight picked for Aviation Hall of Fame Praxair and GE Aviation Open New Advanced Jet Engine Coatings Facility in Ellisville, Mississippi ELLISVILLE, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Praxair, Inc. (NYSE:PX) and GE Aviation today opened a new facility for their PG Technologies business, which specializes in advanced coatings that enable jet engines to withstand higher temperatures and stresses. PG Technologies is a joint venture between Praxair Surface Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Praxair, Inc., and GE Aviation. The 300,000 square-foot facility is expected to employ at least 250 people to meet demand for the latest generation of jet engines, including the GE9X and the CFM* LEAP. "We are pleased to open a world-class coatings facility in Ellisville that will house the next generation of coating technologies and applications for the aviation industry," said Praxair Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Angel. "PG Technologies is a direct result of the longstanding and highly successful commercial relationship we have enjoyed with GE for over 20 years and we look forward to driving steady growth in the business while supporting GE Aviation's needs." "We are excited to enter this next phase of our strategic plan," said Derek Hileman, managing director, PG Technologies. "Our new facility in Ellisville will provide exceptional products, technology and service to GE Aviation with PG Technologies' advanced coating capabilities." "The coating technology at this new facility is vital to enabling us to meet the demands of our customers, who expect industry-leading performance from GE Aviation," said Tony Aiello, Vice President and General Manager Global Supply Chain, GE Aviation. "The engine components delivered from this plant will be in service for decades to come with our more than 400 airline customers all around the world." *CFM is a 50/50 joint venture between GE Aviation and SAFRAN of France. About PG Technologies, LLC PG Technologies, LLC, a joint venture between Praxair Surface Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Praxair, Inc., and GE Aviation, focuses on the development, support and application of specialized coatings tailored for GE Aviation's current and future engine platforms. PG Technologies is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with coating operations in Ellisville, Mississippi, and the Republic of Singapore. About Praxair Praxair, Inc. is a leading industrial gas company in North and South America and one of the largest worldwide. With market capitalization of approximately $40 billion and 2016 sales of $11 billion, the company employs over 26,000 people globally and has been named to the Dow Jones® World Sustainability Index for 15 consecutive years. Praxair produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Our products, services and technologies are making our planet more productiveby bringing efficiency and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, primary metals and many others. For more information about the company, please visit our website at www.praxair.com. About Praxair Surface Technologies Praxair Surface Technologies offers a comprehensive array of high-performance coatings, materials, and technologies to the aviation, energy and other industries. By continuously advancing coatings technologies, Praxair Surface Technologies helps customers improve environmental performance, decrease energy consumption, extend component life, improve productivity, minimize downtime, reduce operating costs and produce high-quality products. Additional information about Praxair Surface Technologies is available at www.praxairsurfacetechnologies.com. About GE Aviation GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components, integrated digital, avionics, electrical power and mechanical systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation is part of the world's Digital Industrial Company with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. For more information, visit us at www.ge.com/aviation. Follow GE Aviation on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GEAviation and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/GEAviation. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171201005399/en/Praxair-GE-Aviation-Open-New- Advanced-Jet Back to Top New hybrid plane will add second electric engine as battery costs drop Until recently, the idea of fully electric commercial flight wasn't even on my radar. But as battery costs come down dramatically, this prospect is moving from (ahem) pie-in-the-sky to a very real possibility within the next decade or so. The trouble is, we need to start cutting carbon now. Luckily, electrification isn't always an all-or-nothing proposition, especially in a plane with several engines. A new partnership from Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemensappears to take advantage of this fact. Dubbed the E-Fan X, this will be a demonstration hybrid aircraft which-initially-will have one of four gas turbine engines replaced by a two megawatt electric motor. But as the system matures, is demonstrated to be safe and, presumably, as battery costs come down, provisions will be made toward replacing a second turbine with another 2MW motor. Electrek described the move as, likely, the "biggest electrification effort to date." And while the press release focuses on the hybrid aspect, one has to wonder if the ultimate goal is all four turbines being replaced by motors. Here's how Paul Eremenko, Airbus' Chief Technology Officer, described the project: "The E-Fan X is an important next step in our goal of making electric flight a reality in the foreseeable future. The lessons we learned from a long history of electric flight demonstrators, starting with the Cri-Cri, including the e-Genius, E-Star, and culminating most recently with the E- Fan 1.2, as well as the fruits of the E-Aircraft Systems House collaboration with Siemens, will pave the way to a hybrid single-aisle commercial aircraft that is safe, efficient, and cost-effective. We see hybrid-electric propulsion as a compelling technology for the future of aviation." A big part of the motivation for projects like this is, apparently, the European Commission's Flightpath 2050 Vision for Aviation, which includes a reduction of CO2 by 75%, reduction of NOx by 90% and noise reduction by 65%. The happy side effect, presumably, will be cleaner air, lower dependence on fossil fuels, and cheaper flights too. But who needs Big Government? https://www.treehugger.com/aviation/new-hybrid-plane-will-gradually-go-all-electric-battery-costs- drop.html Back to Top DHS Lacks Funding to Install New Screening Technology at Every Airport The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not have enough money to install enhanced screening technologies at every airport in the United States, the agency told Congress on Thursday. "We have some funding for the CT technology. We do not have the funding to deploy it at every airport," acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke said during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing. "To buy it for every airport would require much more than a reprogramming" of funds from Congress. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and other industry partners have begun testing scanners at some airports in the U.S. that use computed tomography (CT) technology, which is the same technology used in hospitals. It is able to produce three-dimensional images that make it much easier to decipher and isolate the contents of a bag when they go through airport security checkpoints. Airport scanners that use X-ray technology only produce a two-dimensional image of a bag. But those images are harder and take longer for screening officers to decipher, especially as carry-on bags have become more cluttered as passengers try to avoid fees for checked luggage. That's why the TSA started requiring passengers to put large electronics and other items into separate bins for screening. CT technology, however, could alleviate that problem, making the screening process far quicker and more effective. The administration also raised global aviation security standards this summer in order to keep up with evolving terrorism threats, including new intelligence that shows terrorists are exploring innovative ways to smuggle bombs onto planes. But the CT technology is expensive, and the TSA, an unpopular government agency, has often been targeted for budget cuts over the years. One CT scanner made by Analogic costs $300,000, which is double the price of a standard X-ray scanner, according to Business Insider. http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/362574-dhs-lacks-funding-to-install-new-screening- technology-at-every-airport Back to Top Pipistrel Partners With Chinese Mega Project Pipistrel founder Ivo Boscarol has partnered with a Chinese company to build its Alpha Electro electric trainer and the hybrid version of the Panthera high performance aircraft in a new aviation development near Nanjing. Pipistrel will retain 51 percent of Pipistrel Asia Pacific General Aviation Technology Ltd. The minority partner is Danny Wu Hao and, as his stake in the deal, will build a general aviation airport and business park from scratch over the next two years to serve as the home base for the venture. Pipistrel will sell the intellectual property and sales rights for China and 10 other Asian countries for both designs and they will be built at the new facilities, known as Project Jurong. "During the course of the following two years, a new airport, aircraft factory, villas compound and a department of aviation university will be built in the "Project Jurong" center," Pipistrel said in a news release. "With its daughter companies, which will be established in the next months, the Pipistrel Asia-Pacific will also take care of acquisition of terrain, construction and management of a 130 hectare airport complex with all the infrastructure, tourist settlement and all the supporting activities." Project Jurong is planned for a site about 40 miles from Nanjing, a city of eight million near the east coast of China. It is adjacent to Jurong Lake National Park and the project is envisioned as a combined aviation and tourism hub. https://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Pipistrel-Partners-With-Chinese-Mega-Project-230002- 1.html Back to Top Delta Airlines donates $2M to Auburn RFID Lab Dive Brief: * Thanks to a substantial gift from Delta Airlines, the Delta Airlines Foundation and the Jacobson Family Foundation, Auburn University is building a bay dedicated to aviation-based RFID technology, RFID Journal reported recently. Altogether, Delta provided $6 million to the school, with $4 million dedicated to Auburn's Aviation program, in addition to the $2 million dedicated to the RFID Lab. * The new RFID research bay already contains a simulated aircraft cabin seating 42, as well as a baggage-loading area, service hangar space for tool tracking and an area that will simulate an aircraft parts assembly line. * Funds from the donation will be used not only to expand the new lab bay, but also endow student and faculty research on RFID tags in avionics. Dive Insight: RFID's suitability for avionics will likely expand as industry usage standards are established. RFID is already stirring the pot within the food industry, allowing for better brand safety and ingredient traceability. Though most commonly applied within retail for better inventory tracking at such stores as Target and Macy's, RFID tags are also appearing as implants within human hands, replacing keys and swipe cards. RFID's use in aviation is also growing. Baggage tracking is one area where the technology has made an impact. "Delta has integrated UHF RFID tags into all checked baggage, "said Justin Patton, the RFID Lab Director at Auburn. "This allows more accurate tracking of the bags as they are loaded and unloaded from the aircraft, and they have been sharing this information with passengers in the FlyDelta app." Flyable parts and safety are also benefiting from RFID technology. "Many parts go to Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MROs) for service and maintenance, and an RFID tag is an excellent place to store that data," Patton told Supply Chain Dive. "In addition, airlines often use these tags for compliance programs. Cabin compliance in particular is very popular, as one person can walk down the cabin aisle and verify the presence of all of the tagged safety equipment including life vests, oxygen masks, O2 cannisters, etc. Before RFID this could take hours, as someone had to dig under each seat and scan each item with a barcode one at a time." Asset and tool tracking are being tagged, too, which is absolutely vital for safety. "Tracking ground assets, and especially tools, can be helpful from an efficiency and safety perspective in both manufacturing and maintenance, " Patton noted. "Foreign Object Detection (FOD) is a big deal in aircraft manufacture, since leaving a tool in an airplane while it's being built can have grave consequences later. RFID is used by several manufacturers and airlines to scan and locate the tools for safety, and for general accuracy in the check-in / check-out process." https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/delta-airlines-donation-auburn-RFID-lab/512022/ Back to Top Documentary Highlights How the Aviation Industry is Working Together to Create an Adaptable Workforce Pipeline Jennifer Treman's moment of triumph is on a flyer hanging in her house in Sandpoint, Idaho. It contains a photo of her overjoyed reaction to starting a Cessna airplane. "That was my first time doing that. It's like a war cry shot of my excitement," Treman said. Coming from a background where she had zero mechanical experience to being on the North Idaho College Aerospace Center of Excellence brochure, Treman, the mother of two boys, had to take a chance on a new direction for her and her family. Through NIC's Aviation Maintenance Technology program at its state-of-the-art facility in Hayden, Idaho, she was able to pursue and realize her dream of working with aircraft. Yet without the intervention of industry leaders in this remote corner of the state, Treman may have never had the opportunity to capitalize on her passion for aviation. Her story illustrates how the NIC Aerospace Center of Excellence continues its work in developing a new generation of in-demand workers while keeping an eye on the future of aviation maintenance and advanced manufacturing. Up in the Air Treman still has a little trouble adjusting to her morning routine. She starts her day at 3:30 a.m., gets in some yoga and gets ready for the day before she heads over to Timberline Helicopters in Sandpoint for a 10-hour workday. "I definitely look forward to coming to work," said Treman. "Waking up early is not the fun part, but after I'm here I enjoy it. I look forward to what I'm going to be doing that day." As a shop technician at Timberline, she has an opportunity to repair and maintain its fleet of helicopters, ranging from the famous UH-60A "Black Hawk" helicopter to the workhorse of the Vietnam War, a Bell H1 Huey. These helicopters are used for a range of jobs from heavy lifting, to power line construction and firefighting operations in the U.S. and Australia. One of her supervisors, Travis Storro, COO of Timberline, recalled when he knew he made the right hire in Treman. It was when he got a call from a Federal Aviation Administration inspector. "He called me up and he said, 'Wow, you guys really scored hiring Jennifer,'" Storro said. "And I said to him, 'What are you talking about?' He said, 'Yeah, I was doing surveillance on the mechanic examinations and I've never seen anyone do so well on their airframe test. I just had to call you and tell you.'" Treman said that her teachers at NIC, ACE Director Patrick "Pat" O'Halloran and instructor Earl Thomas gave her the dedicated guidance and held her to the rigorous standards upon which she built her foundation for aircraft maintenance. The hands-on work at ACE was easy enough for her - she liked getting into the grease and wrench-turning - but preparing for the FAA airframe exam required a serious dedication, one which earned her praise from the FAA inspector. "The studying was intense. I studied a lot, because my brain can't retain information well unless I write it down on flashcards. I must have had a stack of 500 flashcards to help me study for tests, quizzes, and the FAA exams itself," Treman said. Originally from Hermosa Beach, California, Treman relocated to Idaho with her husband Cory. Once seeing the abundant Rocky Mountain beauty of the Idaho Panhandle region, she saw that her future was in the clouds. "After moving up here and seeing how beautiful this place is I wanted to always be up in the air and enjoy it from that perspective," Treman said. Treman worked for five years in a machine shop but felt that the job did not offer a way for her to advance her career. One of her former co-workers shared information which detailed a future in aircraft maintenance. That is what prompted her to go back to school to change her life. It was a tough decision and one that her husband understood what kind of sacrifices the family would have to make to achieve her dream. "Knowing how happy it was going to make her, it was totally worth it. I knew that it was going to be a struggle for a year or so. There was going to be a lot put on my plate. But for her to get up and be happy on a day-to-day basis? Totally worth it," Cory Treman said. Before she became a member of the first cohort of NIC aviation maintenance students in the 2015 Fall semester, O'Halloran said that she was "chomping at the bit" and calling him before the FAA- approved program launched. "Jennifer was a best-case scenario student, especially for a new program starting up like ours. We couldn't have done better than to have her," O'Halloran said. "She even came down and started knocking out general-ed English and math and the requirements for an [associate's] degree. Much like many parents who decide to go back to school, Treman had to sacrifice quality time with her family so she could honor the aviation center's mandatory attendance policy. Treman would make the 45-minute drive from Sandpoint to the NIC aviation center Monday through Thursdays, worked a part-time job and helped Cory around the house with her sons JC and Jack. After being laid off from her job, her family went down to just Cory's income and had to make ends meet with some assistance from their families. But she realized that obtaining her FAA airframe license would make her a prime candidate for a job in the growing aviation industry and net her a good salary. "I knew that having the license will get me one step further into a door of a company like [Timberline]. With somebody like me who had absolutely no mechanical experience at all, having this license was going to get my foot in the door," Treman said. Treman said she hopes that her story will inspire more students to choose a career pathway in the aviation industry. To ensure that this industry thrives in this remote corner of the U.S., its leaders and educators had to organize to attract more students like her. A Workforce In Demand In the Pacific Northwest, Washington gets the headlines as a leader in the aviation industry as a home to Boeing and many subsidiary manufacturing businesses. However, Idaho once held its own as an aerospace workforce creator back in World War II. NIC supported the war effort, according to O'Halloran, until its training programs shifted away from aviation and into automobiles in the 1950's and 1960's. It still had its aviation manufacturing program, but without modernization, the program was not keeping up with the rapid change in manufacturing technology. The aviation maintenance program was dormant until local aerospace industry leaders were confronted with an impending labor shortage. O'Halloran said that industry growth is outpacing the region's ability to replace retiring workers, echoing a trend happening nationwide across many industries. "The manufacturers have unprecedented demand for their products. Look at Boeing and the 737 MAX. Those new aircraft are selling years in advance. They know what they'll be building for the next five or six years. Someone's going to have to fix and maintain and fly those aircraft. There's a huge need," O'Halloran said. Despite the damaging effects of the Great Recession of 2008 on the labor market, aerospace employment was resilient. Demand for aviation mechanics and technicians is expected to grow by 5 percent through 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is in line with Boeing's long- term projection of 2.6 percent projected long-term growth in airline traffic in North America. To respond to this demand, companies like Priest River-based Aerocet, which makes composite floats for light aircraft, joined forces with other manufacturers and suppliers to form the Idaho Aerospace Alliance. Its mission is to maintain a cooperative alliance between manufacturers and educators to create an adaptable workforce pipeline. Aerocet is a leader in manufacturing composite floats for aircraft. Photo - Aerocet website Though Idaho has fewer than 600 employed mechanics and technicians, replacing this valuable workforce, especially in this remote sector of the state, was made tougher by the lack of local educational opportunities. O'Halloran said that before the maintenance program's inception, students would have to train across the state border in Washington or stay in-state with the nearest program in Pocatello, which is 10 hours away from Hayden. The IAA went into action and got the attention of the Idaho Department of Labor, and a grant for the NIC program was submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor. In 2013, NIC was provided a $3 million federal grant to revive the maintenance program and bolster the capabilities of its manufacturing program. "We've got a burgeoning industry, and more so even more in our area, and so it's the right thing for a community college to do: Rise to the occasion," O'Halloran said. With the federal funding, NIC and O'Halloran forged partnerships with the IAA and its member organizations to create an adaptable curriculum where every semester matters. "We'd show what we thought was the right curriculum. They'd give us some advice and feedback from aircraft maintenance and companies nearby: Empire Aerospace, Timberline Helicopter, there's a whole litany. We have Unitech Composites, we have Aerocet in this area. It really was taking off as a niche, and they've stayed in the conversation, they've hired our graduates," O'Halloran said. The two disciplines offered at ACE, aviation maintenance and aerospace advanced manufacturing, offer a mix of online courses and hands-on work during ACE's lab hours. The maintenance program prepares students for two FAA exams in General Aviation and Airframe maintenance. On the other side, NIC students can opt for the two-year manufacturing program and work in airframe maintenance, CNC machining and composite repair and manufacturing to obtain an associate's degree. NIC also offers a flexible schedule which is adapted to the changing needs of students. According to O'Halloran, a student who completes the first semester of composite repair and manufacturing can walk away from the program with a certification and have an advantage for an entry-level position in manufacturing. "Life happens," he said and NIC can provide an education that can get results, even without obtaining an associate's degree. Up, Up and Away Treman was one of those fortunate students who was snapped up by Timberline during the course of her FAA examinations. Though the bulk of her studies involved airplanes, she would have the skills to work at Timberline. "In the Aviation Maintenance Technology Program, I was taught to fix aircraft. Everything that's involved, besides the engines, and most of it was on airplanes. Very little was about helicopters," Treman said. Within one year of starting the program, she was now earning a paycheck. She said that NIC changed her life because she went from zero experience in working with aircraft to having a foundation for a career in maintenance and beyond. She said that her co-workers at Timberline have treated her like a family and have trained her to learn a new discipline in helicopter repair. Treman said that she felt at home in her new career after about a month on the job. "The whole company has been patient with me. I'm green. They encourage me to better myself and they give me time because I pick up things quickly," Treman said. Storro said that NIC provided Timberline a great employee in Treman because of her ability to adapt to any situation. He said that Timberline has brought in another graduate of the program from her recommendation. "Having somebody come in and know how to access information, how to apply information, the basics of how to approach tasks on an aircraft, and the important safety aspects of working on aircraft are very important. And having that firm foundation when they start is definitely beneficial to any employer," Storro said. As for the future, Treman said that she is content with the wrench-turning and repair for now. She said that she is striving to be the best mechanic she can be. Her instructor at NIC, Earl Turner said he believes she has a bright career ahead of her. "Jennifer is going to be one of the first to attain to an inspection authorization in her maintenance training field. It's like a journeyman's license but in aircraft. It's an authorized inspection license, and I think she's well on her way to that, easily can fulfill that duty," Turner said. Treman said that she made the right decision by choosing North Idaho College's Aerospace Center of Excellence and thinks her story can inspire others to start a new career path. "To know how proud my family is of what I've accomplished makes it that much more worth it to get to where I am now and to continue to succeed," Treman said. "I want to be the best aircraft mechanic there is. I want to be the best role model to my kids, to everybody else, guys and girls out there. It's never too late to start." For more on the North Idaho College Aerospace Center of Excellence, visit their website or watch NIC's introductory video to the Aviation Maintenance Technology program. Join the Conversation: Give us your reactions to our latest Do Something Awesome mini- documentary on our Facebook page. Through our Do Something Awesome series, WorkingNation is committed to telling powerful stories of programs across the nation which prepare Americans for the future of work. Check out our previous mini-documentaries here. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12384521/documentary-highlights-how-the-aviation- industry-is-working-together-to-create-an-adaptable-workforce-pipeline Back to Top Lufthansa Technik Receives Approval for Transponder Modification for Airbus A320 Family Lufthansa Technik AG has received a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for modifications on the Airbus A320 Family aircraft to fit them with second-generation "Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast" (ADS-B) transponders. Completion of this modern airspace surveillance technology modification by 2020 has been prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The aviation authorities require that, in future, all aircraft can be traced worldwide using GPS-based aircraftdata. Lufthansa Technik can now equip the first customer aircraft with the new transponders, which fulfill the DO-260 B RTCA (Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics) standard. Compared to conventional surface-based radar monitoring, the new technology will significantly improve the localization of aircraft and therefore airspace safety. In the course of modification, it may also be necessary to replace the GPS signal source. "We can now offer our customers the appropriate ADS-B modifications with original manufacture components and regulatory approval," says Thomas Rueckert, Vice President Base Maintenance Services at Lufthansa Technik AG. The STC for ADS-B on the Airbus A320 family will be followed by certifications for other aircraft, including the Airbus A330/340, the Boeing 747, 777 and MD11. The significant global demand for ADS-B modifications is already resulting in capacity problems at many overhaul facilities. Lufthansa Technik is therefore offering options for the performance of this modification, including mobile installation teams that can work anywhere around the world. The modification can be carried out over three independent night stops, which avoids long ground times and high costs. About Lufthansa Technik: The Lufthansa Technik Group, with around 35 subsidiaries and holdings, is one of the world's leading providers of technical services for the aviation industry. More than 25,000 employees serve the internationally certified maintenance, production and development company. Lufthansa Technik's range of products and services encompasses the entire service spectrum for commercial as well as VIP/special mission aircraft, engines, components and landing gear in the fields of digital fleet management, maintenance, repair, overhaul, modification, fitting out and conversion, along with the manufacture of innovative cabin products. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12384567/lufthansa-technik-receives-approval-for- transponder-modification-for-airbus-a320-family Back to Top 2018 Aviation Design Challenge Registration Fills in Record Time Washington, DC - The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) today announced registration for its 2018 Aviation Design Challenge has filled in record time, and that GAMA member company Click Bond, Inc. will be the owner of the Glasair Sportsman the winning high school team will help build as its prize. "This will be our largest competition since we started the Aviation Design Challenge in 2013," said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce. "We have 130 schools from 34 states registered to enter the competition next year, and 105 of them have never participated in the program before. With the addition of our member company Click Bond, Inc. as the builder of record the winning team will help build, this will be our most exciting Aviation Design Challenge yet." Next year marks the sixth annual year for the GAMA-hosted competition, created to teach U.S. high schools students Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics skills (STEM) through aviation, in the hopes of helping bridge the skills gap and spur interest in aviation industry careers. Since the competition's inception in 2013, GAMA has reached nearly 400 high schools in 43 states and Washington, DC. "The fact that registration for the 2018 competition filled in record time - under two months - shows how highly U.S. educators value STEM skills and the excitement they have to teach those skills through aviation," continued Bunce. "I'm so proud of this program's growth and the success we have had in educating the nation's young, bright minds about aviation and career options in the industry." The prize for the winning team of the Challenge is to experience general aviation manufacturing firsthand. The prize has been held at Glasair Aviation in Arlington, Washington, where the students and their teacher help build a Glasair Sportsman over the course of two weeks alongside the Glasair crew and plane's owner. GAMA member companies sponsor the competition to finance the team's travel expenses for the prize, and this year a member company has purchased the plane the team will help build. "Click Bond is a company founded by aviators and we deeply appreciate the benefits that general aviation brings to our business and to our nation. Sponsoring the GAMA Aviation Design Challenge aircraft is a natural fit with our mission to advance awareness of this important sector of the industry," said Click Bond President and CEO Karl Hutter. "We look forward to working alongside the winning team's students and Glasair's professionals during the aircraft build. When it's done, we will utilize this aircraft as an ambassador of the general aviation industry to attract, educate and inspire the next generation of aerospace leaders, exposing them to great career opportunities and encouraging them to experience flight firsthand." Click Bond, Inc. creates innovative mechanical hardware solutions, delivered through world-class manufacturing and customer support. Click Bond, Inc. is headquartered in Carson City, Nevada, with manufacturing facilities in Watertown, Connecticut, and Saltney, Wales, U.K. "Glasair is once again honored to be part of the Aviation Design Challenge. Everyone at Glasair is looking forward to hosting the winning students next June," said Nigel Mott, President of Glasair Aviation USA, LLC. "This year we have the further privilege of working with the Click Bond team. We will be able to use Click Bond's innovative products while building their Sportsman 2+2 and then incorporate them into our design as we move toward Part 23 Certification of the Sportsman 2+2 aircraft." Glasair Aviation USA, LLC produces the Sportsman 2+2 aircraft kit and the Merlin Light Sport aircraft. Glasair's manufacturing facilities are located in Arlington, Washington, where its team also assists builders with completion of their aircraft in Glasair's Two Weeks to Taxi program. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12384533/2018-aviation-design-challenge- registration-fills-in-record-time Back to Top Aviation Minister visits Imperial's new Aerial Robotics Lab Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg saw how nature is inspiring pioneering advances in drone technology at Imperial's Aerial Robotics Lab. Hosted by the Vice-Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Mary Ryan, Baroness Sugg was the first Minister to visit the brand new Brahmal Vasudevan Multi-Terrain Aerial Robotics Arena. The Minister was introduced to the work of the lab by its director, Dr Mirko Kovac, who gave a presentation of the lab's work including how it takes inspiration from biology - such as mimicking the anatomy of butterflies to create flying robotic micro-gliders. PhD students in the lab gave a demonstration of drones in action, showcasing the 16 high speed 3D aerial tracking cameras that record in real-time the dynamics of robots in the air. The visit, held on Friday 24 November, came in advance of a government announcement that police will be given new powers to prevent the unsafe or criminal use of drones under planned legislation. The government plan to publish the draft Drone Bill for consultation in spring 2018. The Minister said "It was fantastic to visit the ground-breaking Brahmal Vasudevan Multi-Terrain Aerial Robotics Arena at Imperial College London. Dr Mirko Kovac and his team are pushing back the frontier of drone technology, revealing the scope for drones to help solve major societal challenges. This pioneering facility, and their important work, will help position the UK as a leader in aerial robotics." The Brahmal Vasudevan Multi-Terrain Aerial Robotics Arena at Imperial's Department of Aeronautics is the first of its kind in Europe. Located on the roof of the City and Guilds building, the facility is dedicated to the design, development and testing of novel mobile robots for various unstructured and extreme environments. Funded by a £1.25m gift from Imperial aeronautical engineering alumnus Mr Brahmal Vasudevan, the lab opened in November 2017. http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_1-12-2017- 13-1-28 Back to Top Astronaut on first Apollo spaceflight picked for Aviation Hall of Fame Walter Cunningham orbited the Earth 163 times on the first manned Apollo space mission on the nation's eventual journey to the moon. The 85-year-old space pioneer and former Marine Corps fighter pilot in the Korean war has marked a new milestone nearly 50 years after the historic space flight with his selection into 2018 class of the National Aviation Hall of Fame at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base. Other inductees were: the late William H. Dana, an X-15 rocket plane pilot; former Deputy NASA administrator John R. Dailey, a retired Marine Corps general; and retired Gen. Ronald Fogleman, a former Air Force chief of staff and pilot in the Vietnam war. "I've never been as personally excited as when I got this for the Aviation Hall of Fame," Cunningham said in a recent telephone interview from his home in Houston, Texas. "That is the honest to God truth." While not well remembered today, the first manned Apollo flight with a crew of three - included commander Wally Schirra and fellow astronaut Donn Eisele - tested the spacecraft on a nearly 11-day, more than 4.5 million trek in October 1968. "We're still the longest, most ambitious, most successful flight test of any new flying machine ever," Cunningham said. The flight helped to restore faith in NASA's goal to reach the moon after three astronauts - Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee of Apollo 1 - were killed the year before in a tragic flash fire in a space capsule during a launch rehearsal in Florida. Apollo 11 would reach the moon in July 1969. On the Apollo 7 flight, Cunningham said: "We looked at the operation as really the satisfaction of very serious training and we were at a phase where many people in the public didn't want to see us going into space anymore because they worried about the risk." The flight rocketed into space with three people, another first for NASA, and broadcast on live television from space for the first time. The mission simulated a command module docking with a lunar module that would be used to land on the moon. On its plunge to Earth, the space capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean less than a mile from the planned pick-up point. The 1960s space age era cutting-edge technology made history. But everyday technology today has significantly progressed, he said. "Your cell phone today is thousands of times more capable and (has) more memory than we had on our navigation computer," he said. At the time, the Apollo space voyagers were in contact with the ground about 4 percent of the time because a network of satellite communications didn't exist, so the spacecraft contacted ground stations, he said. "The only time we had more than a couple minutes communication is where we were coming across the U.S.," he said. Another contrast: Missions on the International Space Station have taken thousands of digital pictures; Apollo 7 astronauts carried enough film to take 400 photos. "We had no idea really of what all we had good pictures of until about three days after we got back and they'd all been developed," he said. Cunningham said the risk taking of the space era is something the nation has lost. He said he counts his time as a Marine fighter pilot as his greatest opportunity. "Part of the reason why is the attitude that you develop," he said. "...You've got to be willing to accept risk in your life and today that seems to be different. We're really developing a risk-averse society these days." Still, he said he believes the risk taking will return, someday, as the nation pushes beyond the moon. NASA put him in charge of overseeing preparations to launch the Skylab program into orbit, but when he was passed over for missions to the moon and the new orbiting laboratory he left the space agency in 1971. The retired colonel has had a career as an author, physicist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist and radio talk show host. http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/astronaut-first-apollo-spaceflight-picked-for-aviation-hall- fame/0VRPHksME8vsmQDHVl8xtM/ Curt Lewis