Aerosciences instructor and CEO J. Terry White just taught two back-to-back classes to the brilliant men and women of the Air Force Test Center (AFTC) at Edwards Air Force Base, CA. This marks the tenth course Mr. White has had the pleasure of teaching at Edwards AFB, where he once worked as an Aerodynamics Engineer at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. Regarding the opportunity to teach at Edwards AFB, he said, “I love being there because of the history, the people and the connection that it has with all things aerospace over the last 70 years. To me, Edwards is synonymous with flight test.”
From 05-08 August, Mr. White held his Aerospace Vehicle Performance (AVP) course, which provides a thorough training experience in the rudiments of propeller-driven and jet-propelled aircraft flight performance. Many of the students commented on the benefit of Mr. White’s instruction on specific excess power. One student said, “I needed a refresher on specific excess power and estimating tools – I haven’t used these concepts in years.” Another student commented, “Specific excess power seems to be glossed over in most texts, but it is used regularly in my job – nice to have it explained again.”
From 12-15 August, Aerospace Lessons-Learned (ALL) was taught to the AFTC community. The course is designed to help aerospace professionals avoid making the same mistakes as those who have gone before. One student emphasized this point, saying “I plan on sending my less-experienced and new lead engineers to this course. We have significant experience loss occurring and this course may help communicate knowledge to them that we cannot give due to lack of experience.” This, of course, is one of Mr. White’s great passions – to help preserve the legacy of lessons-learned in years gone past and pass the baton on to the new generation of aerospace professionals.
The WEA team extends sincere gratitude to the wonderfully helpful Ms. Kathy Finley and the exceptionally resourceful Ms. Cathy Clum, as well as each student in attendance. We hope to see you all again soon!
