HATFIELD BRANCH NEWSLETTER JUNE 2021 No June Lecture We hope our members have a great summer, that the weather is good and you are at last able to do most or all of the things you want to do. We look to seeing you again when our new season begins in October. In the mean­ time, see the flier at the back of this newsletter about our social event. From the Chairman Welcome to our June newsletter. Last month, we held our Recently, the Branch membership has been declining. first online AGM. For those who are interested, the Traditionally, our membership comes from two cohorts; the minutes, together with the supporting reports, can be students at the university and those who were employed found here: AGM Minutes. It was followed by an locally at de Havilland, Handley Page, BAe Systems and enlightening lecture from Andrew Chadwick on the Drones Raytheon. Inevitably, this latter group is suffering from the Pathfinder Programme. This concluded the 2020/21 passage of time and if the Branch is to grow, we must bring season. in new members. We know that there are a significant This has certainly been a strange year for us all. When number of, mainly small, aerospace companies within the we were forced to cancel the Geoffrey de Havilland lecture local area and we need to spread the word and encourage at short notice, in March 2020, few could have envisaged their employees to get involved. Personal contact is the what would unfold over the next 14 months. Despite the best way; so, if you can help, please get in touch. disruption at the end of last season, which included I am delighted that Maurice James and Rodney Day have cancelling the AGM, I am delighted that we have managed been elected as our new President and Vice President. Both to run a full programme of online lectures this year. Keith Maurice and Rodney are keen to help the Branch to thrive Gowland has shouldered most of the burden of organising and to develop the, already close, links between the branch these online events and, despite the initial problems, these and the university. have been well received. The committee have been working hard to develop the The committee has continued to meet regularly, using programme for the next season which will start with the MS Teams and have done a sterling job in keeping things Geoffrey de Havilland lecture in October. We already have going. In August, Sagar Patel decided, for both family and many of the other lectures agreed. As the Covid 19 restric­ work reasons to step away from his role as Secretary and tions ease, we are looking to start having real meetings from the committee. I am grateful to him for his support again. However, as our lectures are hosted at the university, and to Keith Gowland who agreed to step into the breach. we have to follow their guidance on when these might When I took over as Chairman, we were unable to find a resume. Physical meetings are social and networking new Treasurer, so I continued with both roles. Now, I must occasions, while online lectures allow people from further thank Jeremy Kimmons for volunteering for this key post. away to attend. So, we are assessing the possibilities of Also, Peter Elliot has become the vice chairman. continuing to stream the live events, to get the best of both Stan Kimm has left the committee after many years. worlds. Stan carved many of the magnificent trophies that we We expect to publish our next newsletter in September, present for the university prizes. So, we will continue to be and I wish you all an enjoyable summer. reminded of his contribution. Thanks Stan. Steve Rogers HATFIELD BRANCH JUNE 2021 NEWSLETTER Page 2 Lecture Report – The UK Government Drones Pathfinder Programme, Andrew Chadwick For our final lecture of the season, we were delighted to procedures and routes in order to ensure safe flight. To safely welcome Andrew Chadwick to talk on the UK Government integrate drones, all three aspects need to be re­examined. Drones Pathfinder Programme. Andrew, who is the Andrew outlined the significant amount of work Chairman of the RAeS Unmanned Air Systems Specialist required to develop the unmanned aviation ecosystem, Group, is also the Aviation Technology Initiative Lead in the including platform technology, airspace issues and Connected Places Catapult. regulatory developments. Andrew opened his talk by explaining about the There are a broad range of sectors where drone Catapult System. The Catapult Network has been set up by technology can be used. These include agriculture; energy Innovate UK as a network of world leading centres designed to transform and accelerate the UK capability for innovation and future economic growth. There are currently 9 of these innovation centres spread over the country and covering a wide range of techno­ logies from Cell & Gene Therapy to Satellite Applications. The Connected Places Catapult is the UKs innovation accelerator for cities, transport and place, with a focus on connecting business, academia and the public sector to generate new business and accelerate the creation of innovative products and services. The Catapult, which has a network of 3500 businesses and over Image: Connected Places Catapult 300 academics, is focussed on 3 areas of strategic opportunity – levelling up/ regional productivity, infrastructure; public safety, surveillance and security; accelerate the transition to net zero and restart & recovery transport and logistics; construction; insurance and the post pandemic. media, where over 90% of aerial shots are already being Andrew then focused on the drones and the rapid captured by drones. expansion in their use, both in the numbers of drones and Andrew then introduced the Drones Pathfinder the value to the UK economy. A report from PwC in 2018, Programme and showed us a number of projects supported estimated that by 2030 there could be 76,000 drones flying by the Programme but led by industrial partners. in the UK. The report also estimated that the drone In the Energy Pathfinder, a consortium is working to economy could support over 600,000 jobs, with £16 billion in net cost savings and a £42 billion increase in UK GDP. Such increases in numbers don’t come without risks and the Connected Places Catapult is working with key stakeholders, including Government, CAA and Industry to safely integrate drone flying into the airspace. Many of these drones will be flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and It is necessary to prove that these drones can be operated safely. Manned aviation has developed rules and procedures over the last 100 years to ensure airworthiness certification, pilot training to deal with emergencies and regulation of infrastructure, Image: Connected Places Catapult HATFIELD BRANCH JUNE 2021 NEWSLETTER Page 3 introduce BVLOS linear infrastructure surveys across the electricity and gas networks. It has been demonstrated that drones can be successfully flown to replace the manual inspections previously carried out from the ground by engineers. In another project, led by sees.ai, they are working to develop a control room operating multiple drones with significant autonomy. The aim is to have drones with cameras and sensors which can develop their own 3D map of the operating environment in real time. They can then use this information for flight path planning and autonomous avoidance, with all processing Image: Connected Places Catapult being performed onboard in real time. Increasing numbers of drones, operating remotely from drones weighing more than 250g, whereby all drone their pilots and with increasing autonomy, make efficient owners and operators need to be registered and have traffic management vital and the Catapult is leading the passed an online test. initial development of an open access unmanned traffic After a lively Q&A session, Maurice James proposed the management (UTM) framework. The UTM is a scalable vote of thanks to Andrew for a most interesting and digital air traffic management system that can monitor and informative lecture. manage drone operations to keep them safely separated as The Pathfinder webpage is well as integrating drone operation into the wider airspace https://cp.catapult.org.uk/project/pathfinder, where you management. can find all the programme project information, upcoming Andrew closed by reminding us of the protocols for safe events and past presentations. drone operation and the latest legal requirements for Steve Rogers The Internet of Things and Flying Our recent General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo) available on a smartphone, that consumers can access briefing (April 2021) made me reflect on how things have through their flight deck console. changed now that we are well into the internet age. What It would seem that the electronic flight bag is now here, once was time consuming and slow appears to be quick and subject to regulatory approval. It is now possible to fly your data rich. For example, the self­briefing of weather for your route on your simulator, download your flight plan and flight can now be part of the digital flight panel with upload to your smart phone or tablet. However, you are still connected aircraft services and features to consumers required to carry an up­to­date aeronautical chart [though through a wireless communication system. this can be an electronic one – Ed]. Technologies such as in­aircraft sensors and global The prospect of live weather and situation awareness positioning systems generate data that is transmitted information through a subscriber identity module (SIM) card through two­way communication between a vehicle and a and modem embedded in a smartphone means you need to be central computer system. Remote engine health monitoring clearer about knowing your limits and when to keep your risk offered by Rolls Royce enables aircraft to transmit and assessment to a manageable level.