Giorgio Clementi (2022 Fellow and KJ Award)

Flight test achievements - before ITPS Canada

Following his service in the South African Air Force Giorgio’s entry into flight test started in 1986 when he was employed as a Senior Flight Test Technician at Denel Aviation in South Africa where he flew as crew on maintenance, production and experimental test flights on fixed and rotary wing aircraft including system upgrades of Mirage IIICZ, SA 332 Oryx, SA 330C Puma and others.

After receiving his Mechanical Engineering Diploma from Pretoria Teknicon (1989), Giorgio was employed by Aermacchi S.p.A. in Venegono, Italy and was sponsored to
attend a Flight Test Engineer Course in Mojave, California (1990).

From 1990 to 2009 Giorgio has been involved as a flight test contractor in multiple projects around the globe such as:

(1991-93) Flight test engineer instructor at the International Test Pilot School in Cranfield England. Also worked with the UK CAA for the radome modification of a Beech King Air E-90 operated by the school.
(1994/5) Contracted by Air Atlantique to develop the CAA approved Performance Section of the AFM for the Maule MX-170 UK. Dealt with UK Civil Aviation Authority, Airworthiness branch of Safety Regulation group.
(1995) Contracted by Fahr und Flugzeugwerke Altenrhein GMBh, for the certification flight tests FFA AS 202T Turbine Bravo program, which consisted of the installation of an Allison turbine engine of 379 shp on an airframe originally certificated for 150 hp.
(1996/7) Contracted to provide flight test engineering services as a Consultant for Natural icing Certification Flight Tests for the Embraer ERJ-145 in, this involved providing the specialist icing instrumentation, data acquisition, analysis and reporting.
(1998) Consultant for IPTN CN-235 Natural Icing Certification Flight tests in 1998 working with the Indonesian DGAC. This involved providing the specialist icing instrumentation, data acquisition, analysis and reporting.
(1999/2000). Contracted by Alenia Flight Test Department in Caselle, Turing to provide flight test engineering services for the Alenia C-27J Spartan, Natural Icing Flight tests.
From 2002 to 2005 he worked at the AGUSTA Flight Test Department as a contractor FTE where amongst other projects, he was responsible for the Cockpit and Workload Assessments and flight test plans and certification reports of the AB 139 and A 109 LUH helicopters for single and dual pilot IFR operations.
February 2006 to January 2008 Diamond Aircraft Industries in Canada as Manager Flight Test Department and Test Pilot. Responsible for establishing and managing the Flight Test Department for Diamond Aircraft in Canada, whilst simultaneously undertaking the Proof-of-Concept experimental test program for the D-Jet. Managing the first flight of the POC and subsequent test campaign. He was responsible for the majority of the 110 R&D test flights on the D-Jet Proof-of-Concept aircraft.
April to August 2008 Contractor Flight Test Engineer at GROB Aerospace GmBH. in Germany. Responsible for Powerplant and Systems Test Plans, including Inlet Distortion, Cooling, Water Ingestion test planning and co-ordination with Cranfield Aerospace.
2008- 2009 Bell Helicopter as contractor Flight Test Engineer involved with the Bell 429 Certification, involved in test plan preparation, aircraft configuration control, liaison with Maintenance and Quality representatives, flying on board as crew, directing test from TM room.

ITPS Canada - Establishment and growth

While ITPS was first established in 1986 in the United Kingdom, it moved to it current location at London, ON in 2005 and became fully active in 2009 under Giorgio’s leadership. Starting from a small office at London International Airport with no owned aircraft, Giorgio’s outstanding leadership and passion for flight test has led ITPS Canada to expand to a 42,000 sq. ft. facility currently employing 28 test pilots and engineers and owning 22 fixed and rotary wing aircraft.

Up to date ITPS has trained more than 25 Air Force clients and crews from major aerospace companies like Airbus, Leonardo, Korean Aerospace Industries, COMAC, Turkish Aerospace Industries and Indonesian Aerospace Industries. With Giorgio as President and Accountable Manger at the International Test Pilot School, ITPS became an SETP recognized Test Pilot School, an EASA Approved Training Organization for Flight test Training and a post-graduate degree granting organization currently delivering a Master of Science in Flight Test Engineering.

Under Giorgio’s mentorship the ITPS curriculum is constantly developing to include the latest technological trends in the industry and the recent development of an online training program with was implemented in record time during the COVID era restrictions.

Noteworthy are also Giorgio’s contributions in training flight test crews and consulting aircraft manufacturers for first flights. Under his supervision the whole TAI Flight Test team was trained for the first flight and certification of the Turkish basic trainer and ground attack aircraft Hurkus. He also developed and run a bespoke flight test training program for test pilots and engineers of the Chinese AVIC AG600 Kunlong large amphibious aircraft designed by AVIC and assembled by CAIGA. Very recently (June 2022) the Korean KF-21 Boramae first flight was performed by an ITPS trained test pilot, while Giorgio run multiple meetings advising KAI on the test program.

Over the years Giorgio’s generosity and willingness to spread the flight test profession was evident though his mentoring a number of individuals who demonstrated enthusiasm for a career in flight testing and sponsoring them on ITPS courses at no cost to themselves. Many of these went on to graduate and are active in the industry.
It should also be noted that Giorgio has always been an active supporter of flight test societies attending events on annual basis. Currently he is an SFTE Senior Member, an SETP Associate Fellow and the recipient of the 2022 Tony LeVier Flight Test Safety Award. An active pilot himself, Giorgio holds an FAA Airline Transport Pilot License and Experimental Type rating for the Aero L-39 Albatross, SIC rating on the Grumman HU-16 Albatross and a Canadian Type rating for the Aero L-29. He has accumulated over three thousand hours’ experience on sixty-seven types.

Leading Innovative Engineering Projects

3 Besides all the above, Giorgio truly shares the spirit of Kelly Johnson, being the father of multiple innovative engineering projects. As part of the effort to keep ITPS Canada modernized and technologically relevant, Giorgio created in 2017 a new and independent Engineering Department to support ITPS Canada training operations. The ITPS Engineering department employs a blend of highly experienced engineers and younger enthusiastic graduates who work on upgrading existing ITPS air platforms, creating new hardware and software for avionics systems. The projects undertaken by the Engineering Department are too many to list in the present letter.

One such project is the Adaptive Handling Qualities Aircraft (AHQA). A low-cost testbed for the FBW and Variable Stability System to be installed into one of the ITPS L-39s in 2023 and a means to test the VSS Control Software. AHQA was completed in six months, completed flight tests, and joined the ITPS training program in July 2022.

Giorgio has also been behind the concept of the 5th Generation Surrogate Training Aircraft (5STA) the answer to how a small commercial organization could operate an aircraft on which to train the test pilots and flight test engineers for 5th and 6th generation fighter aircraft. Giorgio’s vision, engineering insight and management skills drove a small team of ITPS engineers to successfully undertake the development of this aircraft which was rolled out in June 2021. Featuring a Large Area Avionics Display (LAAD), Helmet Mounted Display, Embedded Tactical Simulation System, HOTAS controls and Live Virtual Constructive Training via datalink the aircraft was developed in record time by a small, dedicated team on a modest budget.

Giorgio was the driving force behind ITPS dramatically increasing the use of high-fidelity simulation and an early adopter of Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality technology in support of flight test training. The result is the Advanced Aircraft Simulator Center featuring a Variable Stability F-16 based simulator, a B787 based transport aircraft engineering simulator, an Augusta Westland AW-139 high fidelity simulator and eight networked fighter simulators featuring 120 deg semi domes, based on the F 18E and F-35. One of the F-35 cockpits has been equipped with Mixed Reality making ITPS the first flight test training organization to integrate this training onto its programs. Most recently Giorgio developed the eVTOL engineering simulator whish is now in operation proving extremely valuable in eVTOL and Rotary Wing courses for rotorcraft handling qualities evaluations. These additions have revolutionised the training syllabus for test pilots and flight test with the simulators being networked to ITPS’s TM room allowing for very realistic flight tests rehearsals. Furthermore, the AASC facilities are currently used for research under collaboration with other aerospace establishments.

Professional Testimonials

“I wholeheartedly concur with the nomination of Giorgio for the SFTE Kelly Johnson award. I have personally worked with Giorgio on many occasions, and I have seen his passion and dedication to advancing the art of flight test. As the leader of the ITPS, he has done more to train future flight test engineers on an international scale than any other single individual I can think of. He receives my absolute highest endorsement.” John Minor (SFTE Fellow, 2010 Kelly Johnson Award recipient)

“It's with great pleasure that I write to support Giorgio Clementi’s nomination for the Kelly Johnson award. I believe that Giorgio is the best choice for the award. We must say that he is the person who introduced the concept of flight tests to many countries all around the world. He made a valuable contribution to the aviation industry of many countries. If flight tests are carried out safely in many countries around the world, I can say that it is thanks to the influence of Giorgio's vision and capabilities. Therefore, I request that this valuable award be given to Giorgio Clementi.” Emre Can Kaya (Chief FW Flight Test Engineer, Turkish Aerospace Industries, SFTE Member)

"During the ten years of my involvement with SFTE, either through the International Board of Directors, or as an Officer through individual chapters, I have participated in multiple award committees, and fully appreciate the value of the Society’s highest individual award. I truly consider that it is a very rare occasion that a nominee is such a great fit for an award as Mr Giorgio Clementi is for the Kelly Johnson and thus, I would like to offer him my strongest recommendation." Dr Panos Vitsas

In addition to the above the following flight test professionals have submitted individual testimonial letters in order to support Giorgio’s nomination of the 2022 Kelly Johnson Award.

James Sergeant (SFTE Fellow, 2021 Kelly Johnson Award recipient)
Dave Mitchell (SFTE Member, Mitchell Aerospace Research)
Terry Lutz (SFTE Member, TLZ Aerospace Services, SETP Fellow)
Rodrigo J Huete (President Flight Test Safety Consultants, SETP Fellow)
Sebastian Rommel (SFTE Senior Member, Lead Flight Test Engineer, Airbus Military)
Wendy Ng (ITPS graduate FTE 2012)