SFTE EC 2023 Symposium Report

In 2023 the Italian Air Force celebrated its 100-year anniversary. A good occasion to travel to Rome for this year’s 34^th SFTE EC symposium. This event took place between May 16-18, 2023 at Sheraton Parco de Medici Rome. The programme consisted of a full schedule of technical sessions, social events and was concluded with a technical visit on the last day to the military Air Force Base (AFB) of Pratica di Mare, home of the Italian Air Force Flight Test Squadron. For partners a dedicated programme was organized.

The evening before the first day the symposium desk was open for early registration and an informal cocktail reception.

Keynote address on the first day was delivered by the SFTE treasurer Mr. Jeff Canclini. His topic of choice was “The future of the FTE” and presented some thoughts and questions relevant for all of us. The discussion continued during the Annual Business Meeting the next day. The day continued with three technical sessions delivering nine papers.

At the end of the first day all the symposium attendees and guests enjoyed an Italian inspired dinner complemented with Italian drinks. During dinner we took a moment to present this year’s biannual Jesualdo Martinez award. The award was granted to Mrs. Barbara Wood for her contribution and dedication to the SFTE. The award has been sent to the family. Details are published on the SFTE EC website.

The second day consisted of three technical sessions. In total 10 papers were presented. Over the two days of technical sessions the audience received in total 19 presentations. The slate of presentations was outstanding. In keeping with the theme of “what is the future FTE job”, many presentations provided valuable insights into how the FTE role is expanding and evolving necessitating new expertise, more educational opportunities, and useful standards. Juan Jurado’s, “Outcome-Based Framework for Online Model Validation and Risk Awareness” was awarded the best paper and presentation by a five-panel judge presided by Mr. Jeff Canclini.

At the end of day two we concluded with the Annual Business Meeting (ABM). With an active participation from the public we had some lively discussions about the current and future role of the FTE. During the ABM a new board consisting of the current officers was re-elected for 2023-2025 and Mr. Alessandro Ramazzoti (Heart Aerospace, Sweden) joined our Director at Large team. A warm welcome to Alessandro.

A Campfire Session was organized on the evening of the second day. Intended to provide a podium for the most respected members of SFTE or SETP. This time in a farm setting including food and drinks a stage was provided for Antoine van Gent from Airbus Helicopters (Head Flight Test department) and Francesco Paolucci from EASA (FTE rotary wing). Both colleagues did not disappoint sharing their experience and transmitting their lessons learnt to the younger generation.

For our technical tour on the last day we were welcome by IAF Reparto Sperimentale Volo at AFB Pratica di Mare near Rome. The tour of the Italian Air Force main Flight Test Facility was well organized and quite enlightening. We visited some of their facilities and despite the poor whether we were treated by a flight demo of the Typhoon and M346.
During the event we welcomed approximately 76 attendees including three HQ board members representing diverse commercial, government, military, and academic organizations in and outside Europe. For the partners a guided tour to visit the beautiful city of Rome was organized.