A meeting of the AIAA ADS TC was convened at 0730 in the Radisson Hotel, San Antonio, TX on 17 February 2000. Those in attendance are listed below. This meeting location and date was coordinated to occur immediately prior to the first regular cy2000 meeting of the Parachute Industry Association, 18 – 20 February. PIA extended an invitation to all AIAA ADS TC members to participate in their planned events.

Richard Benney chaired the meeting. Each of the meeting participants provided a brief introduction of themselves. Tim Lott was appointed secretary Pro-tem. The following topics were discussed in the order noted.

• The TC was introduced to Mike Beck (PIA) who provided some brief welcoming comments and PIA’s agenda of meeting events. The ADS TC has a number of active PIA members to include the PIA Technical Committee chairman, Mr. John LeBlanc (Performance Designs) and the Government Systems Chairman, Mr. Maurice Gionfriddo who both attended the entire AIAA ADS TC meeting.

• A revised TC roster was passed around for comments and applicable corrections.
• R. Benney noted that rosters are due by EOM January to AIAA, which was accomplished.
• The ADS TC Roster is limited to 35 members (international members and young members (under age 35) are not counted against the TC should the total roster rise above 35)
• Current ADS TC Roster stands at 36 including international members so there are still positions available.
• A general solicitation for additional members was made.
• There exist five standing teams within the TC.
• Membership upgrade is available and encouraged.

• The exact amount in the treasury was not stipulated and account transactions are posted on the TC homepage.
• Expect up to several thousand more dollars from the Toulouse Conference. Jean-Francois Vergnolle, administrative chairman for the 15 ADS TC Conference in Toulouse, France, has not provided a full financial report for the conference yet as he is still chasing credit card payment issues. It is hoped that all issues will be resolved by the next ADS TC meeting.
• A brief discussion was conducted regarding what expenditures the TC should entertain with the substantial amount currently within the treasury. Areas for consideration noted were: newsletter financing, establishing an AIAA account, financing portions of the ADS Design Course, Scholarships, Donations, financing some portion of ADS Conference attendance for those whose management decline to support, etc. There was no formal decision regarding this issue. It will remain as a discussion item for the foreseeable future. A newly established TC Finance Team has been formed (volunteers were sought). This team will make recommendations to the TC for potential TC fund usage’s.
• The October 1999 Meeting Minutes were approved as submitted.

• Homepage maintained by Mike Accorsi and hosted by the University of Connecticut
• Mike has agreed to maintain this site for an additional three years. The University of Connecticut will host the web site for the same period.
• A request was made to the membership to keep the biography pages updated.
• A comment was made that AIAA is willing to host TC web pages.
• Aerodynamic decelerator pictures or pictures of current test systems implementing aerodynamic decelerators were solicited for inclusion on the ADS TC web page. Contact Mike with those items you’d like to include. His web site is noted within the context of the ADS TC web site.

• Examples of other TC newsletters were shown.
• Stories are needed and should be sent to Christine Hailey. CD’s are ok. When providing stories include several small pictures. Color pictures are expensive to reproduce. Focus on quality Black & White.
• Discussion ensued regarding high cost of newsletter generation mostly focused on the mailing cost. A recommendation was made to reduce mailing cost by reducing the number of hard copies, which are mailed. This could be accomplished by culling the non-decision makers and general ADS TC membership from the mailing list.
• The topic of advertising within the newsletter was discussed as a funding source. Dean Jorgensen discussed his philosophical concern regarding advertising within the TC newsletter. Dean stated that the newsletter should be a tool to market the ADS technology. "Advertising ‘dilutes’ the technology message to some level". "There is a mixed message when on one hand we discuss the wonderful technology and on the other ask for advertising rates". "A bit too altruistic". There appeared to be general concurrence among the TC regarding Dean’s observation and comments.
• Chris stated that articles for the next newsletter need to be amassed in order to structure the overall document. A specific submission date was not stipulated as a cut-off for the next publication. Articles were solicited ASAP.
• All organizations comprising the TC were encouraged to submit material for newsletter publication to preclude the ADS TC newsletter containing a preponderance of data from only one or two organizations. We’re not trying to look like we’re marketing a particular product. The articles should reflect current information, be educational or provide new tools/capabilities.

• Elsa Hennings will be leaving this team. Mike Herr (China Lake) will rejoin and take her place.
• Parachute Design Drawing Standard requested by AIAA for the ADS TC to re-approve.
• The standard was disseminated amongst the TC several months ago for comments.
• Specification is out for public comment outside the confines of the ADS TC as well.
• Images were not readable in many instances and are being upgraded by China Lake.
• The Navy uses this standard while U.S. Army Natick Labs does not.
• Comment was made regarding collaboration with preferred space related standards. Bill Gargano of Quantum Parachutes is POC for specifications.
• It was noted that PIA manages the Parachute specifications since the military stopped managing specifications.
• The first iteration of the PIA Specification is essentially a copy of MIL Standard 7020 documented at PIA 7020.
• PIA Revision A to PIA 7020 contains all discovered revisions to the specification.
• Revision B includes the first set of changes etc
• Why Use PIA version of Old Mil standard?
• Modernized government specs are 10 – 55 years old
• PIA standards are available on their Home Page at: www.pia.com

• Bill Garrard unable to attend
• Short Course currently conducted at University of Minnesota, hosted by AIAA ADS TC
• Last course conducted in 1998
• Can be used to obtain educational credits
• 1 week course duration
• Natick Labs sends all new personnel as do many other organizations
• Next possible time period stated as late summer or early fall 2002
• Cost will be on the order of $1,000 - $1,500 per person.
• Administrative aspect of the course are a concern on Bill’s
• TC support required for administrative functions including credit cards, mailing, etc.
• Option for AIAA to work the administrative component of this event.
• Administrative costs for this event run $4K - $6K.
• Ability to accept credit cards is also a concern. (Problems through the University)
• The ADS TC is at financial risk when conducting the short course.
• Course content seems to be established and well accepted. Short Course instructors will entertain suggested changes to content.
• Course purpose is to educate the next generation of parachute designers.
• Question was raised regarding whether or not the seminar could subsidize the short course. Most members see the two as needed and distinct.
• Chris Hailey volunteered to help Bill. Current plan is to host next short course with same instructors used in 1998.
• Ted Strong (member of PIA who sat through the TC meeting) will discuss short course with PIA.

• Mo Gionfriddo made presentation.
• Mo noted that Karl Doherr was in process of packaging all DLR parachute library and sending it to Linda Hall Library (LHL). Update: As of March 8^th, all DLR material is in the mail to the LHL!
• AIAA currently has an MOU with LHL regarding the transfer of parachute archives.
• There exists a large body of data at Sandia. WPAFB library is blended with SNL. There needs to be a concerted effort to sort out the classification criteria associated with a portion of this documentation. Discussions centered on separating ‘Limited Distribution’ (LIMDIS) data from ‘Unlimited Distribution’ documentation. Appears to be a significant issue in getting an individual to undertake this task. Walter Wolfe (SNL) is taking on this challenging task.
• Linda Hall has stated that they will accept Limited Distribution data but aren’t happy about it.
• It was noted that Dr. Heinrich’s material is all Limited Distribution.
• A comment was made that the TC could consider the option of paying LHL to handle LIMDIS data from Sandia. Questions were raised regarding the process by which LHL handles LIMDIS data.
• A question was raised regarding the need to review LIMDIS data pertinent to a) further retention requirements and b) downgrade from ‘LIMDIS’ to ‘collateral’. Mo Gionfriddo volunteered to work with Rich Benney and Walter Wolfe regarding WPAFB data.
• Pioneer Aerospace as well as Irvin Aerospace indicated that they will wait to establish what’s ultimately contained within the Linda Hall Parachute database and duplicate the documents they possess which aren’t included. Obviously, ‘Proprietary’ data will not be released.
• Rich Benny indicated that Natick will provide Linda Hall a database whose volume is currently contained in 2 – 4 six foot file cabinets. This will occur by the end of the summer.
• USNWC at China Lake possesses a significant parachute database. The approval process nor the cost or other pertinent logistics to get this data gathered and submitted to LHL was clear but is being discussed.
• It was pointed out that a written release was required to accompany special release data.
• LHL requires lead-time notice before receiving documents, especially a large collection.

• Mo provided an overview of the upcoming PIA meeting
• Government/Industry partnership in parachute manufacturing
• Goal of keeping four companies production lines operating.
• Provide Army with parachute manufacturing ‘surge’ capability

• Rich Benney presented for Rob Meyerson who couldn’t attend
• Planned for 14 - 17 August, 2000, 6 abstracts and session plan were accepted by other AIAA TC organizers (GN&C, AFM, etc).
• Opportunities to work with technical committees that are aligned with ADS TC.

• Chris Hailey presented for Mike Accorsi who couldn’t attend.
• Chris noted that some of the papers presented at the Toulouse conference were judged as most worthy of submission to JOA for publication.
• Chris and Mike Accorsi polled session chairman and the Toulouse technical chairs and discussed submissions with a number of Toulouse authors. Six authors agreed, six extended Journal quality papers were accepted by Mike and have been forwarded to the JOA for peer review. A JOA edition with all papers should be produced within the next year.
• Mike Accorsi is the focal point for this endeavor.

• Richard Benney presented for Sanjay Patel who couldn’t attend.
• Sanjay will lead the new finance team. Rich Almassy has volunteered to join and other volunteers are sought.
• Current endeavor is to define our charter including but not limited to: credit card acceptance, areas where we can spend money, short course, design competition and possibly a student scholarship to attend the short course etc.
• Need TC teams to submit inputs to Sanjay and Rich to establish requirements for a working budget.
• It was noted that the mechanics for allowance of the TC to spend money should be included in the charter.
• It was noted that AIAA is beginning to mandate a TC Charter before helping TCs.
• Ideas are sought regarding the promotion of Aerodynamic Decelerator Technologies with an educational focus.
• Volunteers are needed for Awards & Memberships Team
• A solicitation was also made to identify eligible decelerator contributors for ADS TC’s biannual award

• Conference location candidates considered, in the Boston area, included the Park Plaza Hotel, and approximately 12 other quality hotels.
• Park Plaza is solidifying as the chosen location.
• Being in-town as opposed to the outskirts is viewed as critical.
• Dates were discussed. Start on Monday, 21 May and ending Thursday, 24 May seemed acceptable to everyone and is being coordinated with AIAA
• The seminar topic was discussed. Rob Meyerson (Kistler Aerospace) compiled a detailed agenda focused on ‘wind measurement instrumentation & technologies’ which appeared acceptable to everyone.
• A systems resource guide will be provided to Scott Delicker and Tim Lott containing conference-planning guidance.
• Rob Meyerson is looking for input regarding key speakers and seminar topic draft. Suggestions and comments should be provided to Rob directly ASAP.

• Presentation was made by Richard Benney
• Provided review of last years CVD activities and the ADS TC "leave behind material/handout" and experience
• Reviewed Congressional Reference Book
• Discussed ADS TC ‘Message’ to be communicated
• Last year the team was ask by the staffers ‘what can we do for you’? No concise answer last year. This year the team needs to be in a position to answer that question. In general the team needs to be prepared to answer questions from politicians. (Demographics, parachute industry impact, etc.)
• Cut-Off Date for participation is 25 February
• Steve Hintzki (Pioneer), Edward Doucette and Richard Benney (US Army Natick) will take the lead on this years activities.

• Reno Conference – Voting on initiative for potentially funding TCs
• Pilot Program:

• $58K/yr for 3 years
• allocate $700/TC/yr up to $2K - $3K/year/TC
• submit proposals (Emily Springer – Directors)
• will be published for all TCs
• ‘one-time-use’ (not every year type program)
• administrative requirements not entirely defined. Will include a) Charter, b) current roster, c) Year-end-reports, d) Aerospace Year in review articles, e) TBD
• May cover expenses for speaker, expenses for conference attendees, newsletter, etc.

• AIAA has requested feed-back On their Web Page

• Finding things
• PDF Files
• Other feedback is welcome from all AIAA members ("What can we add to enhance the quality and utility of this service?")

• Annual Reports: Too late to change (The TC’s submitted annual report was distributed)
• ADS TC Team Members

• 16^th ADS TC Seminar & Conference team established
• other teams: awards, finance, short course

• Next TC Chairman: Need to be thinking of a replacement for Richard Benney after his two years are completed (end of 16^th ADS TC Conference)
• CY00 Aerospace America "Year-in-Review" submission

• August to be completed, final version
• Submit two images
• More than one author (Glen Brown, (Vertigo) agreed to write) Contact Glen directly if you have topics for inclusion

• Denver Colorado in parallel with G&C Conference (14 – 17 August)
• Richard Benney will announce date and time within two months when ADS session time at conference is known.

• Carl Peterson at SNL has taken a new position and doesn’t have time for chair position anymore
• Discussion focused regarding what will be the ADS TC’s role in this organization, if any?
• Position paper on where technology base budget should be spent was prepared by Jean Potvin and could be the basis for an ADS TC position paper
• Budgets in parachute community are very limited
• Should we have a yearly roundtable discussion? Most TC members agreed that round table discussions once per year would be advantageous (and optional)

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