Lightning Woman will be presented to the first person to fly an electric airplane from the UK to Darwin. (Dick Smith)
As we prepare to go to press for this issue, I have been attending the NBAA maintenance conference in Columbus, Ohio. The opportunity to connect with so many great people in the industry in one place is valuable. In a short one-day time span, I was able to accomplish multiple meetings and build those ever-important relationships that keep this industry going strong.
NBAA’s leaders always want to understand their members’ needs to provide the best services possible. The association, based in Washington, D.C., aims to foster an environment that allows business aviation to thrive in the United States and around the world. Founded in 1947, NBAA is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful. The association represents more than 11,000 companies and professionals, and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), the world’s largest civil aviation trade show. NBAA collects, interprets and disseminates operational and managerial data related to the safe, efficient and cost-effective use of business aircraft. The association is the focal point for identifying and understanding advances in technology and procedures important to the business aviation community.
In other news from the other side of the planet, Australian businessman and aviation advocate Dick Smith has put up a $22,000 trophy for the first person to fly an electric airplane from the UK to Darwin, Australia. Conceived in the spirit of the 1919 flight between the same two points, Smith commissioned sculptor Linda Klarfeld to create the trophy.
Dubbed Lightning Woman, the trophy is intended to encourage aviators to take up the challenge of pioneering long-distance electric flight. “As more electric aircraft are now being built, I decided to issue this challenge because there will come a time when someone will be able to fly from England to Australia,” Smith explained to Australian Flying magazine. “The first one to do it gets the beautiful trophy.”
Good luck to all those who attempt to meet Dick Smith’s challenge.
