Guest editorial

Special issue devoted to the 7th European Aeronautics Science Network (EASN) International Conference on “Innovation in European Aeronautics Research”

Dear reader,

It is my pleasure to present this special issue of the Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology (AEAT) Journal, dedicated to the topics of stability, control, aero-elasticity and operation, discussed at the seventh European Aeronautics Science Network (EASN) International Conference on “Innovation in European Aeronautics Research.” The Conference was organized by EASN together with the Institute of Aviation and Warsaw University of Technology (Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering – InstituteofAeronauticsandAppliedMechanics) on September 26-29, 2017, in Warsaw, Poland.

The EASN Association was officially established on May 6, 2008, by 20 founding members (individuals), following two EC-funded Specific Support Actions. EASN is an international association based in Brussels; self-funded and self-sustainable and coordinated and run by a board of directors, which is elected by the General Assembly for a three-year term. Presently, the EASN Association has almost 400 members, including individuals and laboratories, from nearly all European universities dealing with aeronautical research.

The long-term goal of establishing EASN was to build up an open, unique European platform to structure, support and upgrade the research activities of the European aeronautics universities, as well as to facilitate them to respond to their key role within the European aeronautical research community in incubating new knowledge and breakthrough technologies. The primary aim of the EASN Association is the advancement of the aeronautics sciences and technologies. Any individual with interest in aeronautics and aeronautics-related research may become a member of EASN. In addition, entities such as research establishments, small- and medium-sized enterprises, industries and universities are welcome to join the EASN. More details about the EASN services, membership types and activities of EASN can be found on its website: www.easn.net

Based upon the EASN statute and coming from the assumption that dissemination of research results is one of the most important roles of EASN activity, we decided to organize workshops and gradually transformed them into conferences. The first workshop was organized in Paris (2010) and the second in Praha (2012), and in the following years, successive workshops were held in Milano, Aachen, Manchester; finally, full-fledged conferences were held in Porto (2016) and Warsaw (2017) (Figure 1).

More than 350 participants attended the Warsaw Conference, and about 250 presentations distributed in 45 technical sessions were given. Numerous papers were developed in current projects funded within the scope of the seventh and eighth Framework Programs (FP7/FP8), and a few of them are included into this AEAT Special Issue. Basing on the session chairs assessment, the authors of 83 Conference presentations were invited to submit their full-length papers for consideration into AEAT journal. The scope spanned from aerodynamics, aeroacoustics, thermodynamics, flight dynamics and control, vibrations, operation, materials, structure, health monitoring, surface technology, measurement, UAV/UAS, engines and power plants to space technology and astronautics. In total, 14 papers devoted to stability, control, aero-elasticity and operation are included in this Volume (Vol. 91, Iss. 3), 13 papers devoted to UAV, UAS, performance and systems for pilot support will be included in the next Volume (Vol. 91, Iss. 5) and the rest of accepted papers (25 of 52) devoted to aerodynamics, aero-acoustics, thermodynamics, materials, structure, health monitoring, surface technology, measurement, engines, space technology and astronautics will be included into regular issues.

Furthermore, distinguished invited speakers updated the delegates about the newest opportunities for carrying out aeronautics-related research on available research infrastructure and novel research results.

A few key-note speakers were as follows:

• Mrs Clara de la Torre, Director for Transport, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission, with Key-Note Lecture: Chances and challenges for research in aeronautics within H2020 (FET, CleanSky 2, SC4 ‘Smart, Green and Integrated Transport’, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions);

• Dr Marian Lubieniecki, Managing Director and Site Leader at GE Engineering Design Center (Institute of Aviation), with Key-Note Lecture: Design & Research Philosophy in the Environment of Global Competition;

• Mr Christophe Hermans, President of the Council of European Aerospace Societies, with Key-Note Lecture: Aerospace Europe: Strengthening collaboration & knowledge dissemination;

• Mr Bruno Sainjon, Chairman of the Association of European Research Establishments in Aeronautics (EREA), with Key-Note Lecture: EREA, a major contributor to the implementation of ACARE’s SRIA;

• Mr Alan Haigh Head of Department – Horizon 2020 Energy and Transport, INEA Executive Agency – European Commission, with Key-Note Lecture: INEA’s role in implementing Aviation research in H2020: feedback from 3 years of operations;

• Dr Bruno Stoufflet, Vice-President Scientific Strategic, R&D and Advanced Projects, Dassault Aviation, with Key-Note Lecture: Challenges of business jets technological developments;

• Dr Fay Collier, Associate Director for Flight Strategy, Integrated Aviation Systems Program, NASA Langley Research Center, with Key-Note Lecture: Accelerating market introduction of emerging innovations through integrated technology demonstrations;

• Mr Hannes Ross, Design Advisor and Consultant for the Swiss Project Solar Impulse, with Key-Note Lecture Title: Flying Around The World With Solar Power – A Success Story;

• Dr Ing. Mirko Hornung, Bauhaus Luftfahrt e.V., with Key-Note Lecture: Aviation 5.0 – Challenges and Solutions for 2050;

• Dr Bruce Holmes, Vice-President and Executive Director of the Skytelligence Group, SmartSky Networks, with Key-Note Lecture: Connected, Networked Aircraft and The Future of On-Demand Air Mobility; and

• Dr Frank Anton, Siemens Next47 Projects, eAircraft, with Key-Note Lecture Title: Electric propulsion for aircraft.

Finally, I would like to express my deep appreciation to Dr Askin T. Isikveren, the Editor-in-Chief of the AEAT journal, and Mrs Stephanie Hull, Senior Publisher at Emerald Group Publishing Limited, for offering to EASN the possibility to publish a number of selected papers and for their continuous support in preparing this special issue. Publishing of this volume would not be possible without hard work of Beata Wierzbinska-Prus, the administrative officer at Warsaw University of Technology; therefore, at the end of this acknowledgement, I would like to express my sincere thankfulness for her assistance during the seventh EASN conference and then for help and organizational effort with preparation of this special issue.

Hoping that you will find interesting reading in this special issue.