AEROSPACE SEMINAR AT THE POLITECNICO DI BARI

The CSV Experimental Flight Department towards aerospace
The event was organized in order to share technical knowledge related to the peculiarities of experimentation on aeronautical and aerospace systems with the students of the Polytechnic University.
The seminar was introduced by the Rector Magnificus Prof. Eugenio Di Sciascio, who thanked the Commander and the staff of the RSV for the availability and professionalism demonstrated in preparing the event. He also highlighted the fact that this meeting represents an important opportunity to bring students closer to the major research topics in the field of aerospace and could contribute to building opportunities for collaboration between the two institutions, in order to achieve shared goals for innovation and technological development of the country.
Immediately afterwards, the Commander of the Experimental Flight Department, Colonel Gianluca Ercolani, took the floor and presented the Department, highlighting in particular the vision, mission and organization of the RSV. During his speech, Colonel Ercolani highlighted the strong technological innovation vocation that distinguishes the nature of the work carried out by the RSV, focusing on some of the activities recently carried out by the Department and highlighting their dual military/civil application. As an example, the recent certification of bio-containment systems and the related electro-medical devices dedicated to the transport of highly infectious patients was cited. The very creation of the Aerospace Engineering Group represents an example of the desire to develop dual capabilities, evidenced by the highly interdisciplinary value inherent in the innovative services offered by the aerospace sector.
Subsequently, Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Ambra, Head of the RSV Test Coordination Service, intervened to explain the experimental testing methodologies and procedures employed by the Department, as well as the types of tasks performed, then focusing on some specific activities currently underway, such as the ground and flight testing of a Targeting POD on the Tornado aircraft to enhance effectiveness and precision in attack missions while minimizing collateral damage.
Major Ferdinando Dolce, Head of the Aerospace Engineering Group (GIAS), in his speech highlighted the various aspects of the concept of space: as a factor enabling operational capabilities of the Armed Forces, as an extension of the aeronautical domain beyond the 60,000-foot mark and as a technological frontier with a strong multidisciplinary and innovative connotation. He then presented the technical activities already undertaken by the newly established group, including Space Situational Awareness, preliminary analyses of Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) carried out on the satellite system Cosmo Sky-Med and preliminary studies on suborbital flights carried out using Modelling & Simulation tools.
The latest RSV intervention was carried out by Captain Gabriele Aiolfi, an experimental pilot of the Aerospace Engineering Group, who illustrated the various phases of the suborbital flight modeled by GIAS and concluded with the sharing of an training experience carried out at the Test Pilot School in Edwards (USA) aimed at reproducing the re-entry phase of a suborbital aircraft through the use of a conventional T-38 trainer aircraft.
The closing of the event was awarded to Dr. Giuseppe Acierno, who, as President of the Puglia Aerospace Technology District, addressed the attendees by presenting the ongoing programs and future challenges in the aerospace sector of the regional industrial sectors, highlighting in particular the opportunities offered to students to participate in research and training projects launched by the district in the aerospace sector.