Tentative Date September 27. As the local weatherman says, “Stay tuned for updates.”
Penn State Rotary Wing Short Course
The 52nd Annual Pennylvania State University Comprehensive Short Course in Rotary Wing Technology will be held August 5 – 9, 2019, in State College, Pennsylvania. It is a 5-day course covering aerodynamics, dynamics, stability and control, structures, acoustics, propulsion and drive trains of vertical flight vehicles. Many chapter members have attended over the years and have found the course to be excellent.
If you are interested in more information click here.
July Board Meeting Rescheduled
Due to the July 4th federal holiday, the Hampton Roads Chapter Board Meeting has been rescheduled to Thursday, July 11th at ADD-Eustis, Building 401 Conference Room B from 10:00 to 11:00 am. If you are unable to attend in person, the call-in number and pass code are provided in your email notification of the meeting,
Luncheon meeting of AATD Retirees, Monday, May 6
Actually, any men or women who worked for TECOM, USAAMRDL, AVLABS, ATL or AATD or even had close associations with these organizations (like NASA or industry) are welcome to attend. The luncheons are held most first Mondays of the month, gathering around 11:15 a.m. at the Yorktown Pub, 540 Water Street, within sight of the Coleman Bridge.
Is the US Army biting off more than it can chew? Defense News asks the Army future vertical lift modernization boss, BG Walter Rugen
Click here to see the interview with last year’s HELMOT keynote speaker.
2018 Christmas Social – December 20
The Hampton Roads Chapter annual Christmas Social was held December 20 at the Virginia Beer Company, 401 Second Street, Williamsburg, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The menu included BBQ with side dishes and two complimentary craft beers or EANABs. The food and beverages were free. POC was Brad.Snowden@hna.com.
HELMOT 2018 Transformational Technologies and Their Application to the Vertical Lift Battlespace October 24 – 25, 2018 Keynote Speaker: BG Walter Rugen
BG Walter Rugen is Deputy Division Commander – 7th Infantry Division and Director, Future Vertical Lift, He is a respected senior executive and veteran with a distinguished 29-year career leading US Army and Special Operations Aviation units. He has extensive expertise in planning, programming and budget execution at the strategic level; managing an obligation authority in excess of $120 billion over 5 years. He also has significant planning experience at the national strategic level. He has experienced repeated success guiding large organizations in modernization, transformation, aviation safety, aviation maintenance, and efficiency improvements in international settings.
In Memorium – Robert D. Powell, Jr.
Robert D. Powell, Jr. (Bob) passed away August 6, 2018 at the age of 95. He was an American Helicopter Society 66-year Emeritus Member,a member of the President’s Club and a founding member of the Hampton Roads Chapter. He is credited with sponsoring over 400 new AHS members. He served many years as the Hampton Roads Chapter Treasurer and as the administrator for the annual Chapter-sponsored international technical meetings. He was primarily responsible for managing the chapter’s financial resources in a way that allowed the chapter to award college scholarships, support local science fairs and contribute to museums that have a substantial interest in educating the public about the history of rotorcraft and its role in civil and military applications.
Bob was a graduate of the University of Virginia and a US Navy aviator. Bob flew the F8F Bearcat on active duty and the F4U Corsair and F7F Tiger Cat with the Naval Air Reserves at Norfolk. He earned wings of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) for his service at Langley Field in Hampton. At Langley he was primarily involved in testing helicopter rotors on the Langley hover stand. Shortly after NACA transitioned to the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) Bob, with several other helicopter engineers, transferred to the US Army Transportation Research Command (TRECOM), a forerunner of the Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) component still located at Fort Eustis, Virginia. There Bob continued to work as project engineer for helicopter research programs including Heavy Lift Helicopter, Integrated Technology Rotor and AH-1 rotor blade replacement programs, to mention just a few. After he retired from US Army civil service, he was employed for several years by Kaman Aerospace Corporation as their regional representative.
Bob was predeceased by his wife of 46 years, Susan Hawley Powell, who died in 2017, and his daughter, Martha P. Lovett, who died in 2018. He is survived by two daughters, N. Peyton Powell and M. Lindsay Powell; five grandchildren, six great grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are being provided by Amory Funeral Home. The funeral will be held at Grace Episcopal Church in Yorktown on October 13 at 2:00 p.m.
The chapter has an established annual Robert D. Powell, Jr., scholarship that is awarded each year to an outstanding high school senior planning to enter a STEM-related college program. Memorial contributions in Bob’s honor should be sent to Hampton Roads Chapter, P.O. Box 4249, Fort Eustis, Virginia 23604. The family will be notified of your condolences and best wishes.
Retirees Luncheon Gatherings
Old friends and coworker members of the VFS (of course, we still think AHS) get together on the 1st Monday of at least most months at the Yorktown Pub at 540 Water Street. If you arrive at about 11:30 you will have a chance to chat, have lunch and, maybe, a brew and share the old times and catch up with what we are doing now. Afterward is a great time to take a stroll down the historic York River beach.