FTSC News

Imagine that you had magical powers, and you could apply those powers to any part of the flight test safety process? What would you apply it to? That's one of the questions I'll ask in this edition of the Flight Test Safety Fact that explores many topics and landmarks including: 1) American football and the fundamentals, 2) Silly slogans with mostly meaningless words and what we really mean when we say them (it's a Letter to the Editor), 3) FTSC Award nomination guidelines, and 4) AI.

That's a very brief description of this edition, because you'll find lots of words inside, and I want you to save your energy for those words.  I hope some of them (the words in this newsletter) motivate you to send some words to the editor, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Reminder: Flight Test Safety Workshop Call for Papers extended to 1 March (today).

I can't close without warning you to beware the ides of March.  (Seems like the safe thing to do.)

Sincerely,
Mark Jones Jr.
@FlightTestFact
flighttestfact.com
Editor

For security and added convenience, you can download the newsletter here.

This month we talked with Tobias van Esselstyn, Director of Flight Test Engineering at Gulfstream about some of the challenges today's test teams face and ideas on how to meet those challenges.

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Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Play, and Amazon Music: FTSCChannel

Tobias van Esselstyn Bio

Tony LeVier Flight Test Safety Award

FTSW Call for Presentations

Pan Am 1959 Promo Video

This Podcast is sponsored by Time2climb Training and Consulting

“Prediction is hard, especially about the future.”  This pithy quote is humorous, but in some sense, we can create the future we intend, especially when it comes to flight test safety.  

You will find two more pithy quotes in this edition of the Flight Test Safety Fact, and a research group attempts to predict emerging hazards in commercial aviation.  Their report and methodology are both relevant, and they also illustrate another important issue, something addressed in a column aptly titled, “First Things First.”  

Turbo asks us to sing “Auld Lang Syne” with him and also celebrates three years of podcasting.  

Speaking of pithy quotes, there is an important question that warrants your feedback inside this edition.

Finally, a look back at the London FTSW and feedback from the last few months of last year round out this edition.  

Happy New Year.  I look forward to hearing your one-liners as 2023 kicks off.

Sincerely,
Mark Jones Jr.
@FlightTestFact
flighttestfact.com
Editor

Download the newsletter here.

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel - EP37 - New Testing of Old Aircraft

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Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Play, and Amazon Music: FTSCChannel

This Podcast is sponsored by Time2climb Training and Consulting

Sometimes when I write these newsletters, I feel like I am banging two rocks together, creating sparks and attempting to direct them towards the dry, feathery threads of material, hoping that something will catch fire.  My hope is that something in your heart, your mind, will catch fire, some thread of passion and curiosity.  In other moments, I feel as if I have to unwind some of the threads of the rich fabric of flight test safety, pulling the threads apart so that the sparks will be able to set them on fire individually.

There are many such sparks and threads in this edition of the Flight Test Safety Fact, and as we end the fourth year of publication of the newsletter for the Flight Test Safety Committee, I point it out on purpose, reminding the reader that this is one of several objectives of the project.  I don’t know if I have ever stated this objective explicitly, but I want to light a fire.  

In this edition, we mention topics that were addressed in depth in other forums, because we intend to weave those threads (those topics) together—the DARPA and Lockheed Martin Optionally Piloted Aircraft (OPA) is one of those threads.  It weaves into the fabric of OPA and history and the main theme of flight test safety, which then points us to a NASA book on the topic of unmanned aircraft.  The book is a vein of gold ore.  This edition also mentions articles and past editions of the newsletter and the efforts of late members and hopes aloud that someone will pick up the mantle.  

This edition also includes feedback from readers from the October newsletter and another request from a reader for help with a safety survey.  These are some of the oft overlooked but incredibly valuable parts of this project.

As we end another year, I hope you will share your thoughts and observations with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., an attempt to add your sparks or fuel to the fire.

Sincerely,
Mark Jones Jr.
@FlightTestFact
flighttestfact.com
Editor

Download the newsletter here.

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel - EP36 - Teaching New Pilots Old Planes

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Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Play, and Amazon Music: FTSCChannel

This Podcast is sponsored by Time2climb Training and Consulting

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel - EP35 - Halloween Episode: Frightful Flights Terrifying Test Points Ghostly Gremlins

Join host Art Tomassetti as he shares stories of frightful flights, terrifying test points and ghostly gremlins.  This is a special Halloween edition on the Flight Test Safety Podcast.

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Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Play, and Amazon Music: FTSCChannel

This Podcast is sponsored by Time2climb Training and Consulting

Just this week, all of the FTEs flew north for the winter (I mean...annual symposium in London, Ontario), and a week earlier, the international Flight Test Safety Workshop ended in the UK.  Both meetings resulted in countless discussions that deserve their own columns in this newsletter, but instead of a technical paper, this month features something light-hearted and fun...orange you glad?

Orange wire, orange flight suits, and orange paint on our airplanes...each is related to safety, but where does legend meet fact?

Ghouls and goblins might be the source of Halloween fright, but another thing that scares us is the complexity of today's modern systems and the effect of unknown unknowns on flight test safety.  You can help Ben Luther research the topic by facing your fears and taking his survey.  

If you have your own photos of Frankenstein aircraft or flight test modifications, send them our way.  If there is a flight test safety paper we should know about from the SFTE symposium or European FTSW, send that to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Happy Halloween!

Mark Jones Jr.
Editor

Download the newsletter here.

I spent part of the holiday on Monday shooting sport clays with a shotgun.  Before we started, I was talking to one of the instructors who learned the skill while hunting ducks.  That's a tough way to learn on the job, but it's another example of "implicit learning."  Implicit learning is when we learn by doing rather than deliberate practice, and it applies to how we do flight test safety.  The first article contemplates these ideas during an afternoon of folding laundry, which is, incidentally, a relevant fact.

The second article is an introduction to the EVTOL committee.  At press time, I noticed that the newsletter still has a typographical error: the name of the committee should appear with a capital E.  If the article and the newsletter attachments constrain you to reach out to the committee--and I hope they do--have them explain why they selected a capital E.  They explained it to me, and I forgot to make the edits.  Also note that "constrain" is another word for motivate.  (English is a strange language.)

Now that I've given you several sundry observations, I'll close by encouraging you to read Turbo Talk and listen to 2 podcasts about the same topic with a host of characters you probably know, both of which you'll find in this edition.

Send questions and observations about the English language to the editor, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sincerely,

Mark Jones Jr.
Editor

Download the newsletter here.

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel - EP33 - 3Q (Part 2)

In this episode we look back in history at a historic flight of the X-15 and pick up our flight test discussion about 3Q.

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Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Play, and Amazon Music: FTSCChannel

Direct download link to the Sep 2019 FTSF that has Mark’s article about 3Q

Link to EFTSW Registration

Link to SETP S&B Registration

Link to SFTE International Symposium Registration:

This Podcast is sponsored by Time2climb Training and Consulting

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Emails include Workshop Information, The Flight Test Safety Fact Newsletter, The Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast and other pertinent information you may be interested in.

The Flight Test Safety Database is once again available to everyone at http://ftsdb.grc.nasa.gov/.

Please pass this info on to your colleagues and friends within the flight test community.

Thank you all for your patience and support for the Flight Test Safety Database.

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel - EP 32 - 3Q

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In this episode I go out on location for a flight test safety discussion about predicting the future, assessing safety culture and more. Join Mark Jones Jr., Vanessa Rebello, and myself at the 3rd Planet Mothership for part 1 of this interview.  (I even get to be one of the interviewees for a little bit)

Here is a direct download link to the Sep 2019 FTSF that has Mark’s article about 3Q: https://flighttestsafety.org/images/Flight_Test_Safety_Fact_19-09.pdf

Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Play, and Amazon Music: FTSCChannel

The other day I ran into my stats professor, and I said, "what are the chances?"  Almost unbelievably,I happened upon my geography teacher from elementary, and she said, "small world."**

I joke, but understanding the limitations of the 2d risk matrix and exploring alternatives are not a joke.  This month, a member of our profession who doubles as a cyber-acquisition professional shares what he learned about risk from that particular domain and encourages us to think about it.  While this particular article was under review, someone suggested adding an illustration.  I think that's a helpful suggestion, but I also believe that taking the time to draw your own is equally helpful.

When do we stop what we are doing long enough to draw a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system? I ask this, because research shows that "getting your hands dirty" with the data or idea is more fruitful than dashboards and automated systems.  

There's also a recap of the Workshop, a link to the videos, and two months worth of podcasts on which to catch up.  

While you are at it, print a copy of the newsletter and put it in the breakroom, because we are still trying to Reach Everyone.  

**Twitter is a great place to find viral threads with hilarious puns, and someone should probably be dropping some flight test humor.

Send questions and jokes to the editor, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sincerely,

Mark Jones Jr.
Editor

For added convenience and security, you can download the newsletter here.

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel - EP30 - My Five Safety Lessons from Top Gun

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This month we will look at how pop culture (well one fairly popular movie from the 80s anyway) can provide lessons in safety.  And in our look back in aviation history we will talk about the Dornier DO 31 VTOL Jet Transport 

Link to Drury Wood bio

Major Drury W. Wood | National Air and Space Museum (si.edu)

Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Play, and Amazon Music: FTSCChannel

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel - EP 31 - How Do You Do Safety?

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This month I spoke with Steve Bush and Stan Swan from the Columbia Aviation Association (CAA) and talked about one of the approaches they have to improving flight safety.  You can learn more about the CAA in the link below.

Home - Columbia Aviation Association (caapilots.com)

Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, Google Play, and Amazon Music: FTSCChannel