The Aerospace Network recently held an event in Toulouse and a combined team of volunteers/staff i.e. Li-Anne Nixon, Bob Darby, Tom Quinn, David Lindley and John Turton were there to deliver this activity.     Although David suffered a 3 hour delay at Gatwick the rest of us got there OK.  We arrived in cloudy and humid weather, warm compared to the disappointing June in England, but unusual because in my experience Toulouse usually enjoys a very pleasant climate.  



We all met on Friday morning at DSNA (the French air navigation service and hosts for the meeting) to get things set up.  This was mainly Tom and Li-Anne’s effort.  Li Anne and Tom shot a few “hot topics” videos in the pleasant courtyard garden of DSNA and we then went down to the lecture hall to await arrivals.  



John Turton started off by explaining about the IET and Aerospace TPN.  Bob Darby introduced the technical sessions with a reminder of the ambitious SESAR goals: increasing capacity by a factor of 3, safety by a factor of 10, reducing the environmental impact by 10% per flight and halving air traffic management costs.    To start a series of three first-rate presentations, Cedric D’Silva spoke about the airborne challenges of introducing trajectory based operations, datalink communications and very precise navigation, three of the core technical elements supporting the new ATM concepts.  Our host, Jean-Marc Loscos from DSNA, showed the wide-ranging contributions of DSNA to many of the ground based elements of SESAR, as well as explaining some of the Programme governance arrangements.  Both speakers emphasised the increasing importance of standards as the mechanism for ensuring technical integration of the airborne and ground components. Sasho Neshevski, who is also Eurocontrol’s representative on the EUROCAE Technical Advisory Committee, explained the complex aviation standardisation world, including ICAO as the world-wide body, EUROCAE and RTCA as the respective European and US bodies and Eurocontrol.



A round table discussion picked up on some of the topics mentioned including system wide information management (SWIM) function and its aspirations.  Managing the risks of cyber security, for a function that must be open to all yet secure, is indeed a challenge.  UAVs or (a new acronym) RPAS – remotely piloted aircraft systems  - were also discussed.



David Lindley, the incoming Chairman of the Aerospace TPN, closed the session. 



Engineers have never been known to neglect the social side of things!  We all met later in the evening at the Brasserie de l’Opera, at the corner of the Place Capitole, for a well-deserved and very pleasant meal.  One of the real pleasures of Toulouse is the variety of good places to eat.



Within the last few months, a new museum called Aeroscopia has opened on the Airbus site in the north of Toulouse and is reached by the (also very new) tramway.  I visited on Saturday before flying back home.  The French aviation history display at Aeroscopia amply demonstrates how Toulouse has become the most concentrated centre of aviation expertise in Europe. The two Concordes on display as well as the wealth of other exhibits including a replica of the Blériot XI, the first aircraft to cross the channel in 1909, complement the history display, all in a large and airy hall.



See what you missed on IET TV and you-tube!



Bob Darby

Aerospace TPN Executive Member