Nova Systems gives students air in Flight Lab

Aerospace engineering students in Queensland are taking flight during their degree, as part of a specialist course provided by global engineering and defence company Nova Systems.  Nova Systems has spent the past five years providing the Nova Systems Flight Lab course, where students are provided an airborne demonstration of flight mechanics and aircraft stability and control.

“The purpose of the Flight Lab is to provide students with an introduction into the practical techniques used by flight testers to determine the longitudinal stability and handling qualities of an aircraft,” said Nova Systems Flight Test Engineer Grant Thaler. “We create a real-life scenario for students involving a pre-briefing, airborne data collection and complete a post-flight exercise so they can better understand a vital component of their training as aerospace engineers.”

The company is working toward expanding its offering to other academic organisations. Flight test engineers from Nova Systems oversee the Flight Lab to provide students with a more thorough understanding about aircraft stability, including the impacts of varied aircraft design and requirements for longitudinal and manoeuvre stability. 

“From what we understand, the Flight Lab is the major draw card that makes a student choose to do the Aerospace major – and makes them more employable once their studies are completed,” Thaler said. “It’s a real privilege to come back as an instructor and a tutor to pass on the knowledge I’ve gained in my career over the last 15 years onto the next generation.”

Nova Systems CEO Jim McDowell said: “Contributing to the academic space that we operate in is incredibly valuable to us and helps to foster the future defence industry workforce. The success of this course has led to Nova Systems now planning to expand its teaching into further universities and we are always on the lookout for outstanding students that may want to join our own Graduate Program.” 

This course is targeted at undergraduate and postgraduate personnel involved or interested in the aviation environment. Engineering student Joe Nissen recently participated in the real-life Flight Lab experience and said: “It’s an amazing experience that you wouldn’t get to do in an everyday scenario, it’s an opportunity to gain an insight into what you are learning at university.”

Pilot Ben Blades flew the group of students involved in the exercise, and said it was important to support the development of future engineers. “Every day of the week I strap myself into an aeroplane to go flying and carry passengers so I put a lot of trust in these guys and the training they have had to design these aeroplanes that we fly day to day,” he said.

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