FTSC News

The US is about to celebrate our Independence Day, which is an event that is part of our culture but also a sign that its peak growing season for corn and soybean and every other crop that drones are sensing all over the world (if you believe the headlines).  Both of those things appear prominently throughout this issue in conversations about culture. 

If you are keeping track of fashion trends, you’ll find one parenthetical about Turbo’s provocative clothing, but more importantly, there is also a trip down memory lane for Turbo… twenty years since Mission X.  Curious: look inside this edition for Turbo Talk.

You’ll also find some notes from our most recent podcast and a link to videos from the Flight Test Safety Workshop. 

Hopefully, the extra time off should give you time to digest everything in this issue, on the website, and maybe even to send us a email.

Sincerely,

Mark Jones Jr.
Editor

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

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel – New Episode - Talk With CAPT Jim Wetherbee, USN (Ret), Author and Commander for 5 Space Shuttle Missions

This month, in addition to our regular this week in aviation lookback and a quick update on the Monarch migration, we talk with CAPT Jim Wetherbee, USN (Ret), NASA Astronaut and Director and author of the book "Controlling Risk in a Dangerous World". You can find CAPT Wetherbee's bio and link to his website below.

Jim Wetherbee Bio & Website

Listen Now! http://flighttestsafety.org/ftsc-news/flight-test-safety-podcast-channel
Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, and Google Play: FTSCChannel

Click the link below to view the recordings from the 27 May 2021 Virtual Flight Test Safety Workshop

http://flighttestsafety.org/2021-virtual-workshop

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel – New Episode - Interview with Justin Paines - Thoughts on Commercial Electric Aircraft

This month Turbo talks to an old friend and current Chief Test Pilot for Joby Aviation, Justin Paines, who shares some of his insights and thoughts on their electric VTOL aircraft.

You can find out more about Joby on their website https://www.jobyaviation.com/ and also check out their YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnXilf0WzKWoIA1Y87KgqDw

Listen Now! http://flighttestsafety.org/ftsc-news/flight-test-safety-podcast-channel
Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, and Google Play: FTSCChannel

I once heard someone say that when you get your pilot certificate (or wings), you get issued two metaphorical buckets: A bucket full of luck and an empty bucket labeled "experience." The object is to fill the latter one up before the first is empty.

This month, we ask you to consider "Lucky, or Good?" That question will take you to a presentation given during the April Virtual Symposium hosted by SETP, and there is at least one other talk that we recommend in this issue.

While you are online, go ahead and register for the Flight Test Safety Workshop. You will find the theme and a link to the registration inside.

As always, we would love to hear from you. Send us a note. Thank you for continuing to tell people about the newsletter, and keep sharing.

Sincerely,

Mark Jones Jr.
Editor

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

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel – New Episode - Batteries Included: Test Pilots Talk About the X-57 (Part 1)

This month we have part one of a two part interview with NASA Test Pilots Tim Williams and Wayne Ringelberg talking about the work they are doing on the X-57. They share lesson learned and some of the preparations they are doing as they approach first flight.  We will also take a peek at this month’s Flight Test Safety Fact and highlight some upcoming events.

Wayne Ringelberg Bio

Tim Williams Bio

General NASA X-57 Site

NASA X-57 Fact Sheet

Feature on the X-57 Simulator

Listen Now! http://flighttestsafety.org/ftsc-news/flight-test-safety-podcast-channel
Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, and Google Play: FTSCChannel

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel – New Episode - Batteries Included: Test Pilots Talk About the X-57 (Part 2)

This month we have part 2 of the interview with NASA Test Pilots Tim Williams and Wayne Ringelberg talking about the work they are doing on the X-57. They share lesson learned and some of the preparations they are doing as they approach first flight. 

Wayne Ringelberg Bio

Tim Williams Bio

General NASA X-57 Site

NASA X-57 Fact Sheet

Feature on the X-57 Simulator

Listen Now! http://flighttestsafety.org/ftsc-news/flight-test-safety-podcast-channel
Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, and Google Play: FTSCChannel

If you could travel back in time (something Turbo discusses inside this month’s edition) to continue your work as a flight test professional, but you can’t tell anyone that you are from the future, and further suppose that all you brought with you is your memory, what would you work on? And would it be easier or harder than you think?

I encountered this interesting thought experiment in a blog post that made several profound observations, but one really stood out:  “The idea of taking the output of a function and sticking it back in, over and over, is really simple. But nobody looked into it deeply until around 50 years ago.”

Sometimes we overlook simple ideas.

People have written whole books about why we should not overlook simple ideas.  In this month, however, you will only encounter a short op-ed introducing a simple idea that is statistically rigorous, and it applies to complex and complicated fields alike, including the intersection of artificial intelligence and flight test which continues to emerge.

This month’s editions highlights a formal accident report of an autonomous flying car crash and two more sundry observations from my ongoing survey of flight test news.  Finally, Turbo assigns homework, and the pdf includes three attachments in the paperclip menu of adobe acrobat.

So if you slow down long enough to enjoy this edition, let us know by email.

Sincerely,
Mark Jones Jr.
Editor

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

Flight Test Safety Committee Podcast Channel – New Episode - Do You Know About The No Vote?

It’s a small word, it's a simple word but it can be a big and impactful word when used.  This month’s focus is on the No-Vote.  We start with Space Shuttle astronauts talking about the Challenger and Columbia accidents and then I will share my experience with the No Vote as a pilot and as a leader.

BTW Did you know you can find our organizations on social media?  Here are a few links you can use to get connected:

FTSC LinkedIn

SFTE LinkedIn
SFTE Facebook
SFTE Instagram: @Societyofflighttestengineers & @sftevp

SETP LinkedIn
SETP Facebook

Listen Now! http://flighttestsafety.org/ftsc-news/flight-test-safety-podcast-channel
Available on iTunes, Spotify, Podbean, and Google Play: FTSCChannel

Happy New Year.  A new page on the calendar gives us a great opportunity to talk about the newest topics in flight test and add to the discussion introduced by Turbo's panel of guests in the last podcast: AI and Autonomy.

How do we conduct a "literature review" for a system with no predecessor? And how do we ensure the lessons we learn in this cutting edge technology get shared in a timely manner? These are the kinds of questions we cover.

But this issue also includes a new look at an old topic: the Build up Approach.  Both articles have already generated a lot of discussion, and we hope they do the same for you.

As always, send us your feedback and ideas.

Sincerely,
Mark Jones Jr.
Editor

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

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This Podcast is sponsored by Time2climb Training and Consulting: www.time2climb.com

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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.

How often have you heard the term "Lessons Learned"? If you attended this year's SETP virtual symposium, you heard it a lot.  If you have been in this business for more than a few years, you have heard it a lot.

But how often do we really learn those lessons, and how do we pass on those lessons to the next generation? And how do we prevent the lessons from being lost?

That's a lot of questions, but one thing is for sure--we cover the topic in great depth in this month's edition of the Flight Test Safety Fact.  It includes a paper from SETP and one speaker's related article from a previous edition of Cockpit.  It also includes Turbo Talk, the Chairman's reflections on lessons he has learned about incorporating lessons learned. 

The conversations the Board of Directors has already had around this topic give me hope that you will have many similar, productive conversations.  As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Sincerely,
Mark Jones Jr.
Editor

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

It seems like just yesterday I opened my email and found that Dave Houle had emailed a personal story about the C-17 first flight.  He watched it from a hill overlooking the field where he worked.  Dave was a distinguished member of SFTE and a founding member of the FTSC.  This past week when the world celebrated the first flight of the DC-10, I thought about Dave's stories again.  We corresponded a lot, but I never met him in person.  Unfortunately Dave passed away earlier this year, but his legacy for mentoring flight test professionals lives on.  Read this month's feature column to hear about the thousands of pages of flight test safety material he archived during his lifetime and the amazing effort of emeritus board member, Pete Donath, to organize and publish it in a useful format.

The careful reader will notice herein a subtle reference to the greatest flight test squadron of all time.  If you disagree, I'd love to hear from you.  Even if you don't, we'd love to hear from you, and you can even contribute to the Houle Collection or suggest ideas for a future edition or podcast.

Sincerely,
Mark Jones Jr.
Editor

PS For added security and convenience you can download the pdf here. 

Dave Houle collected historical documentation from many notable aircraft mishaps.  The documentation in this archive ranges from 1929-2011.  Some are anecdotal articles, and others are full accident investigation reports.  We have scanned these into searchable pdf files, available for download.  There is also a rudimentary index of the contents of each file with a brief description of each article.

1. Review the index to find the incident of interest.
2. Locate the FT Accident file number (1-8) and page number next in the row of the selected incident to identify which volume contains the summary.
3. Select the hyperlink of the specified volume, and go to the page number of interest for further details.

In the spirit of sharing lessons learned, if you have similar documentation that you feel will help other test crews, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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This Podcast is sponsored by Time2climb Training and Consulting: www.time2climb.com

If you would like to receive emails from the Flight Test Safety Committee, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your request.

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 following bio was noted in the November 2024 Podcast EP - 60 - The Societies Episode
Jeff Canclini Bio

The following paper was noted in the May 2024 Podcast EP 54 – Go Or No Go
Lessons Learned Murphy's Corollary

The following paper was noted in the March 2024 Podcast EP 52 – It's First Flight, What Could Go Wrong?
First Flight Anomalies

The following paper was noted in the January 2024 Podcast EP 50
OUTCOME-BASED FRAMEWORK FOR ONLINE MODEL VALIDATION AND RISK AWARENESS

The following paper was noted in the November 2023 Podcast EP 48 – Battle of the X Pilots (Part 2)
X Country In An X Airplane

Welcome back.  I needed the break and thank you all for your patience as FTSF took a month off in July.  The pace of life is starting to pick back up and accelerate as we head down hill on the back half of 2020.  

This month's feature weaves together three separate threads that include SETP's Dan "Animal" Javorsek, NASA's Advanced Air Mobility expert Starr Ginn, and a string of airplane crashes in the USAF.  You'll have to scrape off more than the topsoil to find the theme at the root of this column.  If you are the curious type or you are on that last summer vacation, it includes links to other stories and references you can really dig into for more information.  

Also reported this month...The Flight Test Safety Committee Board of Directors has big news--it says goodbye to one member and welcome to another.  

After reading this month's issue, we hope you remember to check out everything the flighttestsafety.org website has to offer, including news about the Flight Test Safety Database--it will be down for extended maintenance.

This month I am asking for specific feedback about the frequency of this newsletter.  Is once a month the right pace, or should we go to every other month? Send feedback about this question or anything that you uncover.

Sincerely,
Mark Jones Jr.

Editor

PS For added security and convenience you can always download the pdf here.