Oshkosh Air Venture, the Naval Postgraduate School, and a return to NASA's Ames Research Center… What a year – and it started with a bang!
Administratively, we welcomed Kathleen Walter from a pro-tem position to President and CEO. During 2007, she led our team in an important series of meetings, including Directors, engineers, and systems specialists at the NASA-Ames Research Center. Mrs. Walter also worked closely with Fulwider-Patton LLP throughout the year to extend and improve the Group’s patent protection and intellectual property positions. Mrs. Walter continues serving the Group as Corporate Secretary.
President and CEO Kathleen Walter (bio, contact) |
At the year’s first Board meeting, The Walter Group promoted Linda Sweet (bio, contact) to Chief Financial Officer, filling a Board of Directors vacancy. We also retained Carrie Calligan (of Carrie Ayn Photography) to record several important system development and evaluation programs. Miss Calligan also serves The Walter Group with ongoing media consultation and program archive work. The Board later re-elected the entire slate of officers to another term.
Operationally, we started the year off with several meetings, marking milestones in our technology’s progress. In February, Dr. William Warmbrodt warmly welcomed President Kathy Walter and The Walter Group team to the NASA-Ames Research Center. Dr Warmbrodt recalled for us his last meeting with late founder Bill Walter (bio, contact).
During our visit, graciously arranged with help from Center Director Dr. Simon "Pete" Worden (Brig. Gen., USAF, ret.), we shared project presentations and delivered HybriCraft™ (technology, markets) development reports. Not surprisingly, the Ames folks demonstrated considerable interest in HybriCraft’s free-flight potential, after viewing an exclusive vehicle performance video. Our final meeting of the day took us to Aeronautics Director Dr. Thomas Edwards’ office, where we exchanged perspectives on funding strategy, and how NASA and HybriCraft might fit in each other’s program plans. |
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In May, Executive Vice President Steve Doyle (bio, contact) accompanied John Chambers of C2 Associates and met with program directors and CIS specialists at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. Discussions about HybriCraft warranted a return visit, as both teams wanted to bring additional members to an in-depth session. Engineering Systems Specialist Matthew Doyle attended as the Group’s technical representative when we returned to NPS in July.
Engineering Systems Specialist Matthew Doyle (bio, contact)
and R&D Director Fred Kent (bio, contact) |
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Meanwhile, R&D Director Fred Kent caught up with Director Glenn Culver for a busy AirVenture week in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, followed by similar events in Reno, NV and Cameron Park, CA. During their travels, they collected industry wisdom and technical insight from some of private aviation’s finest freelance artisans and cutting-edge developers. Following up with high-output engine techs and propeller performance gurus, they returned home to continue that work, which now involves component manufacturers experienced with such creative design efforts as Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites.
Director Glenn Culver (bio, contact)
and R&D Director Fred Kent (bio, contact) |
As summer heated up, Marketing Director Kari Havir (bio, contact) endorsed the latest revision of the Group’s market assessments, underscoring the worldwide absence of a vehicle system comprising capabilities comparable with HybriCraft. Concurrently, Jim Cole (bio, contact) added crucial structure, scheduling, and figures to project plans detailing full-scale vehicle system development.
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It seemed Christmas had come early when Director Brian Brooks delivered the first of two engines added to the Group’s inventory this year. Shortly thereafter, work concluded on a state-of-the-art Engineering Workstation that might make the folks at Intel proud. The R&D team immediately set to work developing 3-D renderings, fabricating core vehicle components, and completing a pair of flow evaluation stations for generation and observation of important fluid dynamics data – akin to wind tunnel facilities.
Director Brian Brooks (bio, contact) |
This winter, the Walter Group’s work continues on all these fronts, as we look ahead to a packed and productive 2008. Preliminarily, our schedule includes more than a few exciting highlights.
- Delivery of the largest composite HybriCraft ever created in-house
- The first-ever performance evaluation series involving simultaneous operation of multiple untethered HybriCraft
- Continued meetings with fluid flow engineers, mass flow generation manufacturers, aerodynamicists, structural engineers, and a host of aerospace industry specialists
 Today, the Group is considering system demonstration at AirVenture 2008, something special from the media team, and entertaining requests from hover-rally fans in Chillicothe and Muscoda, who have reiterated their gracious invitations, eager to see HybriCraft demonstrated at their annual hover-ins.
So, from the growing Walter Group family to yours, we hope you enjoyed a healthy, happy Holiday Season. We appreciate your support and extend our thanks to everyone who participated in our many advances this year. We look forward to another year of productivity and HybriCraft demonstration, and wish you prosperity and blessings throughout 2008.
Happy New Year!
The Walter Mobility Group
Photos courtesy of Carrie Ayn Photography
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