LANCASTER, Calif. — Among aerospace history symposiums occurring around the world this year, the AV Aviation History Symposium on Feb. 25 is likely to be on the smaller, and definitely among the more intriguing, with presenters who worked in secrecy or obscurity.
Launching the program at 11 a.m. will be NASA engineering leader Glenn Bever, who represented the United States in the only joint American-Russian joint flight research program using a modified supersonic TU-144LL.
Following a lunch break, the second hour presentation beginning at 1 p.m. will feature Mike Machat, author, artist and pilot specializing in aerospace art, much based from Edwards Air Force Base.
Scheduled to speak third is Rick Hatton, who in 2002 raised $30 million to launch 10 Tanker, the company that remanufactured DC-10 passenger aircraft to become the largest fire retardant super tankers operating in multiple states, including California and New Mexico.
Wrapping up the day will be Nils Sedano, technical adviser in the liquid engine branch of the Propulsion Division at Edwards AFB. He’ll discuss “Rockets in the High Desert, the AV’s Role in Winning the Space Race.”
Because the AV College Yoshida Memorial lecture hall has capacity for 80 attendees, the deadline for making reservations with the AIAA via email is Thursday, Feb, 23. You can R.S.V.P. at aiaa.av@gmail.com.
First held in 2008 by the Antelope Valley chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the event was held on the closing day of National Engineering Week. But as AIAA-AV unit information officer Chris Coin explained, the first symposium was an eight-hour Saturday affair that sent engineers back to the drawing board to retool for a four-hour program at no charge. Various other aerospace, engineering and technology groups cosponsor. This year’s co-hosts include SAMPE High Desert Chapter, and the Antelope Valley Chapter of SFTE, the Society of Flight Test Engineers.