AIRCRAFT DIVISION SESSION 2020/21
ANNUAL REPORT
It is my great
honour to have taken up the position of the Chairman of Aircraft Division for
session 2020/21. First of all, I would
like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you as well as industry partners
especially my Committee Members for your very kind support and trust.
The
session 2020/21 is a very unique period of time in the history of Hong Kong and
the world as well. The entire world has
been experiencing and undergoing various degree of damage, lock down and unrest
caused by the COVID-19 Coronavirus. In
Hong Kong, in particular the aviation industry has been badly hit with news of
calls for no-pay leave and lay-offs. Morale is low. Our industry partners are striving to survive
and unfortunately, some experienced veterans were forced for early or premature
retirements. For Aircraft Division, we
are also suffering from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic in which most of our
planned activities, visits and training were unable to be realized.
Because of travel bans, there was no
overseas technical visit held during this session. Looking forward, there have been signs of
hope around in some neighboring countries such as China and Singapore. The possibility of having the airshow(s) as
scheduled respectively in Zhuhai and Singapore would remain. The Aircraft
Division will look actively in participating the events. As the local COVID-vaccination is progressing
in Hong Kong and extending to young people, we may be allowed to relax the
social distancing rule and resume our organizations of local technical events
as frequently as on a bi-monthly basis for our members and students.
Aviation is an international industry and
it is our usual practice of inviting overseas reputable training organizations
or institutes in collaborating with us to provide recognized professional
training to our members. The Aircraft
Division will try its best ability and effort to organize more technical visits
and training/lectures in coming session 2021/22 and recover the loss in this
session.
Despite the
difficulties as above, we are grateful for the continuing partnership and
supports from the Royal Aeronautical Society (Hong Kong Branch). Together we have jointly organized the CPD
sessions and this has benefited much to our members in this harsh time. (List
of CPD attached)
There are
certainly challenges ahead. However, we are engineers and problem solvers. When looking back over these long years, we
have encountered many economics and industry ups and downs. I have every confidence that we will be able,
as history has demonstrated to us, to wade through this adversity and thrive
again in a not-distant future.
Ir Donny
CHAN Wai Keung
Chairman,
Aircraft Division
Session
2020/21
HKIE AC 2020-21 CPD
activities [Joint with RAes HK]
8/6/2020 Additive Manufacturing:
Building the Future One Layer at a Time
Our first webinar was chaired by Josh Mook
from General Electric on additive manufacturing for Gas Turbines and Aerospace
applications. He shared the interesting
stories and challenges while leading the A-CT7 additive engine demonstrator
program. He led the LEAP fuel nozzle
design team in the design and certification process, and most importantly how
the technology enables engine weight and cost reduction. His insight and
knowledge on additive manufacturing was inspiring.
10/2/2021 Confident Travel
Initiative
The second webinar was lectured by Thomas
Anderson, Boeing Director of Product Marketing for 787 and the Confident
Travel Initiative. In the lecture, the Boeing’s Confident Travel Initiative
(CTI) was detailed and how it would affect the aviation industry in various
aspect, for example, new material, airflow design, use of UV disinfection were
demonstrated. The development in this field is exciting.
11/3/2021 Piloting
History- from the Spitfire to the electric ACCEL
Rolls Royce’s Phill O’Dell who is
currently the Director of Flight Operations for Rolls Royce plc had shared with
us his vast experience in flying. He has
flown a wide variety of aircraft ranging from the Rolls Royce powered MK XIX
Spitfire, to the Airbus A380, and Boeing 787 and to the iconic Vulcan, XH 588. In this webinar, his story and experience of
flying a World War 2 Battle of Britain legend, the Supermarine Spitfire and
then bang up to date, the Rolls Royce ACCEL, the fastest electric aircraft was
enlightening.