gofly masters Archives - GoFly Prize GoFly Prize

Editor’s Note: Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of GoFly Master Lectures where industry experts share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.

For the latest in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome Nick Lappos, Senior Technical Fellow for Advanced Technology at Sikorsky Aircraft, where he oversees the introduction of advanced technologies into new and existing products. Lappos began his Aerospace career in the US Army as an attack helicopter pilot in Vietnam. He has since logged more than 7,500 hours of flight time in over 70 different types of helicopters, and holds 23 patents and three helicopter speed records. During his Sikorsky career, Lappos participated in the development of aircraft such as the S76, UH-60, RAH-66, and several others.

Watch the full lecture above to hear how Lappos’ extensive experience as a test pilot informs his approach to conceptual design.

If you have follow-up questions, check out current discussions on the GoFly forum or start your own thread!

For the sixth in our series of “Master Lectures,” we welcome Fernando Dones, a Technical Fellow of Critical Flight Systems at Boeing. Dones’ expertise in Flight Controls was developed over a 35-year career making technical leadership contributions on programs such as Advanced Digital/Optical Control System (ADOCS), V-22, Bell-Boeing 609 and Adaptive Vehicle Management System. His contributions to these programs include systems architectures, innovative safety monitors, redundancy management algorithms, FCS actuator servo loop approaches with safety monitors and software architectures optimized for system safety and handling quality performance. His broad practical experience complemented by deep technical understanding and ability to explain complex concepts make him a highly sought technical advisor and a celebrated mentor.

In this lecture, Dones shares advice on how to mitigate risk in flight control systems and ensure reliable system architecture. Watch the full lecture above, and read on for the story behind Dones’ love for flight, the opportunities he sees in the future of vertical flight and his advice to GoFly competitors. If you have follow-up questions, check out current discussions about design on the GoFly forum or start your own thread!

GF: When did you first fall in love with flight?

FD: Sophomore year in college (1978), during spring break in Daytona Beach, a friend who was a student at Embry Riddle University invited me to see the beach from a Cessna 150. The experience hooked me forever. I accepted coops and internships with the FAA that led be to a job from Boeing.

GF: Tell us about one discovery or success that you are particularly proud to have been part of.

FD: Successfully achieving a position servo-loop of a hydraulic actuator using fiber optics (Light Command, Light Feedback) in 1982 — potentially the first in the world.

GF: Why do you think the GoFly competition is important for aerospace innovation?

FD: Without question, it is! This competition can foster momentum for innovation with the public and policy makers, culminating in a technological leap similar to the invention of the round wheel or the transition from bicycles to cars. The public is given the freedom of transportation with a safe, on-demand mode of transportation that can save time and minimize environmental impact. There’s also the opportunity for the general public to see the beauty of communities and landscapes the way pilots do today. The next step: building the infrastructure!

GF: As a veteran with decades of experience in aerospace, what excites you most about the future of vertical flight?

FD: I’m excited by how innovative technology is being developed to safely allow a non-fully trained rotorcraft user to operate a highly-complex machine — without the expensive and time-consuming process of learning how to fly. As the new generation is being exposed to this trend, society is building trust and enthusiasm for this technology. It’s a steep curve to reach popular adoption, but it is imminent.

GF: What was the best piece of advice you received in your career that might be particularly helpful to GoFly participants?

FD: When you think of a design, figure out how it can fail and evaluate if that failure can be mitigated. One must use science (the mathematics and physics we were taught for a reason) to assure safety and performance.

Intuition will lead you to invention, and science will allow you to develop it to achieve what you and others expected it to.

Additionally, “garage engineering” — guesses and hope — is not allowed. From this I concluded: Engineering = Science + Economics (and sometimes) + politics.

GF: What is one ingredient for success you believe will be essential for GoFly teams?FD: Believe in what you do and use engineering knowledge.

For the fifth in our series of Master Lectures, we welcome Dr. Arvind Sinha, Director of Engineering at the Helicopter Systems Division of the Australian Department of Defence. Dr. Sinha has a service record of over 42 years, which includes positions in defence forces, industry and academic institutions. He has held positions such as Officer Commanding of Military units in Operation; has three post-graduate degrees (Electronics Engineering, Aerospace Technology and Business administration) and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Multi-mission helicopter design. In 2016, he was honored with the “World’s Outstanding Aerospace Engineer Leadership Award” by the American Helicopter Society (AHS) International.

In this 30-minute lecture, Dr. Sinha advises GoFly competitors on how to approach design optimization–from the importance of simulation in the building process to strategies for optimizing thrust while minimizing noise. He also shares his own desire to “truly fly” in a way that humankind has yet to achieve, and why he’s personally inspired by GoFly innovators.

There are many different designs that have the potential to successfully meet the GoFly parameters. The complete technical rules for the GoFly Prize can be found at Herox.com/GoFly/Guidelines. https://herox.com/GoFly/guidelines.

For the fifth in our series of “Master Lectures,” veteran venture capitalist Will Porteous shares insights into the aerospace funding landscape, outlining areas of opportunity and the challenges successful companies must overcome to win over investors. Throughout his two-decade career as an investor, he has served on the boards of over 20 companies, including aerospace and satellite companies such as Spaceflight.

Watch the full lecture above, and keep reading for an extended conversation with Will. If you have follow-up questions, check out current discussions about design on the GoFly forum or start your own thread!

GoFly: What was your first thought when you heard about the GoFly competition, and why do you think it’s important?

Will Porteous: GoFly is a remarkable reflection of where we are in the innovation cycle of aerospace. A major company like Boeing is looking to the entrepreneurial community and saying, “The next great wave of innovation in aerospace could come from here. And we want to help stimulate it. We want to use the market forces to drive innovation forward.” It’s a very enlightened perspective that’s indicative of where a lot of large companies are in their thought process about innovation. There’s recognition across a broad range of industries — automotive, financial services, healthcare — that innovation is going to happen outside of their R&D environments. GoFly is one of the most notable, large-scale, visible efforts of this kind, certainly in aerospace.

There’s recognition across a broad range of industries — automotive, financial services, healthcare — that innovation is going to happen outside of their R&D environments. GoFly is one of the most notable, large-scale, visible efforts of this kind, certainly in aerospace.

GF: As an investor, what excites you most about the future of the aerospace landscape?

WP: For me, it’s the convergence of trends that we’ve seen in other parts of the hardware and systems world arriving in aerospace. A lot of our investing activity within aerospace has been focused on the satellite industry, which is also part of the computing industry. And when you look at the satellite industry through the lens of the computing industry, it’s sort of shocking the way people build systems, how much they spend, and that it’s evolved at such a slow rate. Our interest as investors is predicated on the fact that radically new, cheaper innovation models — which we’ve seen in the computing industry for a long time — are now shaping the way we build satellites and aircraft.

GF: Tell us more about these new innovation models.

WP: One crucial innovation in aerospace is the adoption of rapid iterative development cycles that we often see in the software and hardware and systems worlds. You launch ten satellites, get them operational, generate some revenue, learn a lot from that phase of the constellation, and that informs your design for generation two of your spacecraft, which you then build and deploy. All of that happens in three- to six-month cycles. This rapid build-test-deploy-gather feedback-rebuild-repeat approach is becoming the new convention. Companies that started building their satellite constellations two and a half years ago are now on the fourth or fifth of their crafts. They’ve come a long way in a short amount of time, and it’s a crucial factor in creating successful companies. We like to fund people who have a very concrete business plan that they’re executing upon. That’s a lot more interesting to us than a pure long development effort.

GF: As a VC with 20+ years of experience, you’ve had the chance to interact with a lot of entrepreneurs. What skills will successful teams need to have in order to make their audacious goal a reality?

WP: There’s a set of qualities that are essential, but often undervalued. Everyone’s pursuing something breakthrough with an innovative design, and almost all of them are technically viable. The elusive skill is really commercialization. Raising capital has to be a fundamental core competence for any entrepreneur in the aerospace sector. By and large, our view is that most of these companies will be successful — if they can raise the money. It’s an unusual thing to say, but the biggest risk of failure is not getting the money. We focus an awful lot on teams’ access to capital, on the strength of the syndicates as the crucial differentiator. It’s that evidence of strong commercial demand and the ability to point to customers in the near term. We don’t like to fund ventures that we’re not going to see turn into a business for two or three years.

Everyone’s pursuing something breakthrough with an innovative design, and almost all of them are technically viable. The elusive skill is really commercialization.

GF: Does commercial demand exist already? Or is it still on the horizon?

WP: There’s no question that the demand is there — just look at the growth in commercial air traffic. I think it’s a matter of safety. The greatest value in this sector will be created not by the development of individual flight vehicles, but by the creation of the safe framework to support them and to make the use of those vehicles convenient and reliable.

GF: What was the best piece of advice you received in your career that might be particularly helpful to GoFly participants?

WP: Have a deep, detailed understanding of how you’re going to make money and constantly revisit that. Make that your guiding star, if you will. It’s important in this sector because it’s very easy to get lost in the innovation and the technology. You need to be really focused in how you target investors. You need to understand, down to an individual partner level, who’s really active in aerospace and approach them with development models that are capital efficient.

Will is a General Partner of RRE Ventures. During his 17-year career as an investor, he has served on the boards of more than 20 companies, including Breather, BuzzFeed, Paperless Post, Pilot Fiber, Spaceflight and Spire. Will is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia Business School and the Chairman of the Dockery Farms Foundation, which he founded. Before entering the venture capital industry, Will held senior management positions with SupplyWorks and NetMarket, the e-commerce pioneer now owned by Cendant Corp.

For the fourth in our series of “Master Lectures,” Dr. James Wang, Senior Vice President of Leonardo Helicopters, explains the physics of helicopter flight and operation. He examines why a helicopter is so difficult to fly, and breaks down the components of its unique rotor system.

With more than 30 years of experience in the aerospace and defense industry, Dr. James Wang was named the “Steve Jobs of Rotorcraft” in 2013 by WIRED Magazine for his ability to think “out of the box” and push the boundaries of transportation technology. He started his career at Sikorsky Aircraft, where he was known as one of the most energetic and prolific engineers; he contributed greatly to the Comanche, Black Hawk, S-92 and the Variable Diameter Tiltrotor programs.

Dr. Wang later served as Vice President of Research & Development at AugustaWestland, where he created a comprehensive technology roadmap and led design and creation of the AgustaWestland Project Zero, the world’s first all-electric VTOL technology demonstrator aircraft. He holds many patents and major international awards, including the UTC Gold Mead Award, AHS Grover Bell Award, AHS Fellow Award, and the Royal Aeronautical Society Gold Team Award.

You can watch the full lecture above. If you have follow-up questions, check out current discussions about design on the GoFly forum or start your own thread!

For the third in our series of “Master Lectures,” Dr. Paul Bevilaqua shares lessons learned from 50 airplanes that have made it to flight test in an attempt to develop VTOL aircraft.

Dr. Bevilaqua has spent much of his career developing vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. He joined Lockheed Martin as the Chief Aeronautical Scientist and became the Chief Engineer of the Skunk Works, where he played a leading role in creating the Joint Strike Fighter. He invented the dual cycle propulsion system that made it possible to build a stealthy supersonic VSTOL Strike Fighter, and led the engineering team that demonstrated the feasibility of building this aircraft. He received a USAF Scientific Achievement Award, both the AIAA and SAE Aircraft Design Awards, both the AIAA and AHS VSTOL Awards, and the Lockheed Martin AeroStar and Nova Awards.

You can watch the full lecture below. If you have follow-up questions, check out current discussions about design on the GoFly forum or start your own thread!

For the second installment of “Master Lectures,” Dr. Daniel P. Raymer discussed conceptual design and some of the exciting challenges teams may face as they develop their ideas for a personal flying device.

Dr. Raymer wrote the world’s best-selling book on aircraft design, and teaches aircraft advanced design methods around the world. As president of design and consulting company, Conceptual Research Corporation, he’s recognized world-wide as an expert in Aerospace Vehicle Design and Configuration Layout, Computer-aided Design Methodologies, and Design Education.

You can watch the full lecture below. If you have follow-up questions, check out current discussions about design on the GoFly forum or start your own thread!

We’ve partnered with the world’s leading experts in aviation and business to help GoFly Prize innovators during the competition, from specialists in aircraft design to systems engineering, fabrication and testing, and finance and funding. Over the next two years, we’ll be hosting a series of “Master Lectures” where these experts can share advice, insights, and answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the GoFly Prize.

First up: The GoFly Team covers the competition’s technical rules. If you didn’t have a chance to join our hour-long session last week, or if you want to revisit the Lecture, watch the video below for a step-by-step walkthrough of the rules and Q&A from fellow participants.

If you have follow-up questions, don’t hesitate to reach out on the GoFly forum!