SFTE President Engages Industry and Members During Wichita Visit

SFTE President Jeff Canclini recently completed a three-day visit to Wichita, Kansas, strengthening connections with industry partners and engaging with local SFTE members while advancing the Society’s mission to elevate flight test engineering excellence.

The visit began with Jeff delivering a remote presentation to the UK Royal Air Force Flight Test Engineer Career Forum, where he spoke on emerging challenges facing the flight test profession and the role of SFTE’s Recommended Practices (RP) Program in supporting organizational competency and consistency.

Strengthening Industry Partnerships

While in Wichita, Jeff met with senior leaders at Airbus Americas, Bombardier, and Textron Aviation, reinforcing SFTE’s collaboration with major aerospace test organizations.

At Airbus Americas headquarters, Jeff—joined by SFTE Vice President Ben Poval—met with Airbus Vice President John O’Leary to discuss opportunities to strengthen the SFTE–Airbus partnership and support Airbus’s efforts to expand its Flight Test Engineer workforce, particularly at its Mobile, Alabama operations.


Left to right: SFTE Vice President Ben Poval, Airbus Americas Vice President John O’Leary, and SFTE President Jeff Canclini at Airbus Americas Headquarters in Wichita.

The following day, Jeff addressed Bombardier’s Safety Standdown, engaging flight test personnel with practical insights focused on achieving safe, effective, and efficient flight test operations. The visit also included a tour of Bombardier’s test facilities.


SFTE President Jeff Canclini addressing Bombardier flight test personnel during the Safety Standdown.

Engaging the SFTE Community

The Wichita SFTE Chapter hosted a well-attended social event, giving members the opportunity to connect, share experiences, and discuss challenges facing the flight test community. The strong turnout highlighted continued local engagement and support for SFTE’s mission.

Members of the Wichita SFTE Chapter gather for a social event during the President’s visit.

Visit to Textron Aviation

The trip concluded with a visit to Textron Aviation, where the test team provided a tour of their facilities, aircraft, and control room, including observation of a live test flight. Jeff briefed the Textron test team on SFTE priorities and the Recommended Practices program, followed by an energetic Q&A session.



SFTE President Jeff Canclini speaking with the Textron Aviation flight test team.
 

Wichita Chapter President, Ben Hirsch, and Jeff in front of a plaque commemorating Ben’s recent talk at the local SETP/SFTE workshop