ABSTRACT

Steve will talk about the early days in which the ONLY FAA Certified composite aircraft in the United States were sailplanes. He will speak to early composite aircraft repair materials and methods and how this led to early work on “Drones” in the 1970s (now referred to as UAVs). A continuum of technologies from basic repairs, early UAVs and NASA experiments will be shown to carry forward into today’s far more exotic and demanding applications to include hypersonics, Direct Manufacturing and even Star Trek (the Movie). There were MANY personalities along the way who will be discussed from Von Dutch to Bobby Unser to Brandt Goldsworth to Burt Rutan.

BIO

Steve Slaughter has been involved in the field of Advanced Composites since high school in the late 1960s without (at that time) even being aware that there WAS such a thing. Starting in composite sailplane repair part time for the Country’s first FAA composite repair station, he continues work on early technically challenging composite projects for NASA and others into the 1980s. A diverse background in different, odd, novel materials projects led him to get to know a WILDLY diverse group of people and personalities from areas directly connected to the materials industry. From bucket-and-brush to Mach 20 to the largest airplane ever manufactured to underwater composite fabrication and repair to submarine concept design and development, the materials industry continues to fascinate him and those around him. “What a long, strange trip it’s been!”

Steve Slaughter born in 1953 to a family headed by a father with a PhD in ceramics (Fused Oxide Refractories to be exact) and a school teacher mother who used ceramic missile nose tips as flower planters around the house. Junior High School and High School saw him develop a strong interest and enrollment in wood shop, metal shop, ceramics taking classes since the 7th grade. Weekends in High School as a gliderport “Line Boy” and part time work for Fred Jiran Glider Repairs. After graduating High School, work in glider repairs and NASA contracts while going to school part time studying Psychology.

Changing majors to Engineering in the mid-1980s, continuing full time work in Composite materials for a wide variety of companies, Don Edmunds Autoresearch, Goldsworthy Engineering (twice), Scaled Composites (three times now) while picking up classes with specific skills useful on the job: Calculus, advanced math, physics, materials science, chemistry and never quite “finding the time” to finish upper division studies. From Gliders, early “Drones” for NASA and contractors to Indianapolis 500 cars to corrosion control systems to hypersonics to the world’s largest aircraft, he recently left Skunk Works to return to Scaled Composites at their invitation.

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