{"id":10204,"date":"2015-07-28T20:27:46","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T03:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=10204"},"modified":"2015-08-01T07:20:45","modified_gmt":"2015-08-01T14:20:45","slug":"13th-annual-personal-aircraft-design-academy-meeting-honors-popov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/13th-annual-personal-aircraft-design-academy-meeting-honors-popov\/","title":{"rendered":"13th Annual Personal Aircraft Design Academy Meeting Honors Popov"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture, a week of grand aviation events comes to a close with the annual Personal Aircraft Design Academy<\/a> meeting.\u00a0 Each year, an individual or group who has contributed significantly to the progress of personal aviation receives a trophy in recognition of that contribution.\u00a0 Your editor could not be there this year, but CAFE President Brien Seeley officiated\u00a0and shares this report.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. Brien Seeley welcomes attendees to the PADA presentations<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Personal Aircraft Design Academy (PADA) convened its 13th<\/sup>\u00a0annual meeting on July 24 at 7:30 p. m. in the EAA Vette Theatre. After nominations and voting by members of the PADA Board, the group presented the perpetual PADA Trophy to Boris Popov <\/a>for his career-long achievements in bringing forth ballistic recovery systems for aircraft. Boris was also awarded the PADA medal as he accepted the trophy and proceeded to deliver an inspiring speech about the history and successes of vehicle parachute systems. \u00a0He recounted that 326 lives have been saved by the BRS system thus far, and that each of those people are now \u2018like family\u2019 to him.<\/p>\n

\"Trophy<\/a>

Trophy enough, most of us can’t count the lives we’ve saved<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe scientific presentations at PADA 2015 were by Nick Borer of NASA<\/a> and by Burt Rutan, the founder of Scaled Composites. Mr. Borer\u2019s 90 minute presentation covered a wide range of NASA research efforts on the topic of distributed electric propulsion and the scaling-up of small electric aircraft technologies for use on \u201cthin-haul\u201d 8-10 seat air charter service and 100-seat regional commuter airliners.\u201d \u00a0Borer is hard at work on distributed electric propulsion as on the LEAPTech project.<\/p>\n

\"Nicholas<\/a>

A silhouetted Nicholas Borer spoke of near-future realities in electric and high-performance aircraft<\/p><\/div>\n

Dr. Seeley reports,\u201cBurt Rutan spoke about the SkiGull, a high aspect ratio amphibious aircraft with a novel new type of landing gear consisting of flexible, durable skis.\u201d\u00a0 AOPA Pilot<\/em> reporter Dave Hirschman <\/a>attended Burt\u2019s public forum and told of the craft\u2019s trimaran hulls, strut-braced 47-foot wings, and \u201cT\u201d-tail, giving it a sailplane-like appearance.\u00a0 Reduction of metal fittings will help prevent corrosion. A 44-percent span Fowler flap will probably contribute to its ability to break water in 12 seconds after a run of only 460 feet.<\/p>\n

\"Burt<\/a>

Burt Rutan shared details of “Skigull” amphibian, cautioning attendees to remain open minded\u00a0about some performance claims<\/p><\/div>\n

A single Rotax engine in the center of the pylon-mounted wing\u00a0will power the airplane and two electric motors with reversible propellers will boost takeoff performance as desired and aid in docking the airplane. The Rotax\u2019s ability to perform on auto gas will make trips anywhere but to airports practical.\u00a0 Rutan told of the possibility of flying from California to Hawaii on a single tank of fuel.<\/p>\n

Dr. Seeley closes, \u201cThe PADA presentations were preceded by a well-attended special hors d\u2019oeuvre reception for enthusiasts who had pre-paid to meet and greet the assembled leaders of the personal aircraft design community.\u201d\u00a0 Having attended one of these singular events, your editor highly recommends our planning to be there next year.<\/p>\n

All photos courtesy of Dr. Brien Seeley. \u00a0Thanks to Howard Handelman for an all-important correction and the note that although Skigull may float on three hulls, the airplane will land and take off on the outer two. \u00a0He also explains that the primary purpose of the outrigger electric motors is to aid in maneuvering on the water, but that they can be used “for certain kinds of emergencies.”<\/p>\n