Part 1 - Simple beginnings

by Ihab Awad, Founder of Airball.aero

I grew up in Egypt and Nigeria, dreaming of flying, and reading about experimental aircraft in Popular Mechanics. And then I came to the US, studied engineering, and eventually got my own pilot's license!

Around the time I started my flight training at Palo Alto Airport (KPAO), a Boeing 777-200ER, Asiana Airlines flight 214, collided with the seawall near the threshold of Runway 28 Left at San Francisco Airport (KSFO). The aircraft was in perfect condition; but it was too low and slow on short final, and for various reasons, the flight crew did not correct this condition until it was too late. Happening as it did near where I lived, in a spot visible from the city park where my family and I would often go to watch the airplanes land, this made quite an impression on me.

Every such incident is an opportunity for us to learn, and I never assume I am immune from the mistakes of others. So I set out to think of what I could build, for my own flying, that could help me achieve better awareness of my aerodynamic state despite the many other tasks (traffic, radio, ...) that I as a pilot must also attend to. This led me down a path that has taken many years, and which I hope you will follow with me.

Many friends helped me, including Paul Eastham, the owner and builder of N42PE, a lovely Van's RV-9A. We patched wires into his panel, did test flights, and tried out ideas together.

Eventually, in 2016, I came across the EAA Founder's Innovation Prize competition, and I submitted my entry. Much to my delight and honor, Airball was the first prize winner! The encouragement and funding from this event was very important in helping me continue my work.

Since then, I have made a lot of progress, and built a whole array of successful prototypes with the help of many amazing collaborators. I believe we are at the threshold of a completely new way to teach and practice flying -- one grounded in aviation's earliest ideas, and enabled by our latest technology. I hope you will join me in my journey of discovery.

Next time: Part 2 - The relative wind.