SFTE European Chapter

Mr. Gerard Desbois

Perhaps best known for being a member of the crew of the maiden flight of the Airbus A380 in April 2005, Gerard DESBOIS has just completed a long and illustrious career in flight testing.
After graduating from the French civil aviation university "ENAC" in 1979, Gerard started his career as a test data analyst in Aerospatiale in Toulouse. He was nominated by Henri PERRIER, himself famous as a member of the crew of the first flight of Concorde, to undergo training at EPNER, the French flight test school at Istres. Gerard graduated from there at just 29 years old, the youngest Test Flight Engineer ever to be qualified.
With his Test Flight Engineer license in hand, Gerard went on to be involved in many of Airbus's defining projects, and was a member of the first flight crews for the A319 and A340-600 (which he describes as the most beautiful of the Airbus family) before becoming responsible for the A380.
Since the certification of the A380, Gerard was responsible for the small but committed team of Test Flight Engineers at Airbus, before taking the decision to deservedly retire in 2019.
However, Gerard's commitment and passion for aviation has not been limited to his professional activities. He is a talented author and has published two books and numerous reviews, telling stories of his life in aviation and by doing so reaching out to the next generation of pilots and flight test engineers. He is a proficient pilot and has flown on many types, and can be seen at airshows across France in the summer season flying as a member of the Crazy Piper team, where his enthusiasm and generous spirit infiltrates yet more young people. He is involved in restoring historic aircraft and is the patron of several such projects. He is a member or leader of many small organizations defending aerospace and securing the future for passionate aviators. And last but not least, he is involved in several charitable organizations which use aviation as a way of inspiring disabled children.

Last 10th of May the painting “Empty Desk” was delivered to the Spanish Air Force Museum (Museo del Aire) in Madrid.
The SFTE represented by Mr. Jesús Javier Fernández Orío as president of the European Chapter and the Museum Director, Colonel Juan Ayuso, signed the contract for the depositing with the finality that the museum holds in its facilities the painting “Empty Desk”, artwork of the painter Mss. Aida Mauri.
The Spanish Air Force´ Major General Moises Fernandez, currently Deputy Director of Aeronautical Systems at INTA, also attended this event.
The painting will be the memorial for “Jesualdo Martínez” Award for Flight Testing values. The SFTE European Chapter will deliver this award every two years. The first one, a reduced copy of the painting, will be performed in June during the SFTE symposium in Toulouse.
This award is named after Jesualdo Martínez, European Chapter Board member, who perished in the accident of an A400M in Seville in 2015.
The “Museo del Aire” belongs to the Spanish Air Force, and is the house of a impressive collection of historic airplanes some unique in the world. It is definitively a worth visit place if you stay some time in Madrid.

The 50^th SFTE International Symposium and The 30^th SFTE European Chapter Symposium will be held in Toulouse, France from the 10^th to the 14^th of June 2019.

The symposium website is now live and contains all the information needed to join the event.

SFTE Symposium Website

The 50^th SFTE International Symposium and The 30^th SFTE European Chapter Symposium will be held in Toulouse, France from the 10^th to the 14^th of June 2019.

The symposium theme is “Worldwide Cooperation in Flight Testing”

Find more details in the
Call for Papers Flyer

Papers from the 29^th Annual SFTE EC Symposium are now available on the Papers section.

Also, a summary from the symposium can be found in the SFTE EC Symposia section.

The 29^th SFTE European Chapter Symposium will be held at Delft University of Technology, at the premises of Faculty of Aerospace Engineering in Delft, The Netherlands from the 29^th to the 31^st of May 2018.

Read more in the
SFTE EC Symposium 2018 Programme
(Updated 2018-05-28)

Please use the link below for online registration to the symposium.
Registration site

The 29^th SFTE European Chapter Symposium will be held at Delft University of Technology, at the premises of Faculty of Aerospace Engineering in Delft, The Netherlands from the 29^th to the 31^st of May 2018.

Registration is now open.
Please use the link below for online registration to the symposium.
Registration site

The symposium programme is under construction. A draft symposium programme will be published as soon as more details become available and regularly updated. On May 29 and 30 the symposium is expected to start at 09:00 h and finish no later than 17:00 h. The Technical Tour will be a complete day starting early. Leaving at 07:30 h from the Technical University and return at the Technical University at around 18:00 h. On the return trip a stop is scheduled at approximately 16:30 h at Schiphol Airport.

Find more general information about the program, co-hosts and the city of Delft in the
SFTE EC Symposium 2018 Brochure

The 29^th SFTE European Chapter Symposium will be held at Delft University of Technology, at the premises of Faculty of Aerospace Engineering in Delft, The Netherlands from the 29^th to the 31^st of May 2018.

Find out more about the program, co-hosts and the city of Delft in the
SFTE EC Symposium 2018 Brochure
(Updated 2018-03-19)