WILLIAM W. MELVIN Education: B. S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas, 1956.Tau Beta Pi; University of Southern California, ALPA Accident Investigation Course, 1968. Military: Patrol Plane Commander, U.S. Navy; Transport Plane Commander, U.S. Navy Reserve. Pilot experience & Ratings: Pilot for Delta Air Lines, began July, 1960, retired June 1993. Most recently served as captain on MD-11. ATR: CV-240/340/440, DC-6/7, DC-8, DC-9, CE 500, B-727, B-767, L-1011, MD-11. Commercial privileges: Single & Multi-engine Land, Single & Multi-engine Sea and Gliders. Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA): Chairman Airworthiness & Performance Committee (1977-1993), member since 1968. Past service as Local Air Safety Chairman, Central Air Safety Chairman, delegate to 15 International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) conventions, member SAE A-4 committee, member of the Boeing 767/757 evaluation committee, member IFALPA Airworthiness Study Group, member ICAO WIST study group, member Joint Aviation/Industry Landing and Takeoff Performance Task Group. Member, National Research Council Committee on Wind Shear (1982-1983). Member, National Research Council Committee on Aircraft-Pilot Coupling, 1995-96. Author & Lecturer: Technical papers and articles on wind shear and other subjects such as accelerate/stop, automation, manual control, fly-by-wire, noise abatement, etc. Past Contributing author for Flight Crew magazine (now extinct). Lecturer at ALPA Air Safety Investigator's Training School, the University of Colorado and Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Accomplishments: First described how an aircraft could be thrust deficient and land short in a decreasing tailwind shear in 1969 (AIAA 69-796). Later updated article (Flight Safety Foundation Vol 5, No. 3) is referenced in NTSB report of Iberia DC-10 accident at Boston (12-17-73). Described problem of flight directors and approach couplers in wind shear (1969). Described why potential flight path instruments would not work properly in wind shears and why pilots and autothrottles would under-react to wind shear because of inertial acceleration (Flight Safety Foundation, 1975). Developed argument for performance effects upon aircraft from downdrafts close to the ground (Flight Safety Foundation, 1975). Described equation to explain different effects of vertical and horizontal wind shear which is now called the "F Factor" (1975--description first published in NASA Conference Publication 2270, 1982). Explained why three types of airspeed increases which occur during wind shear encounters are not caused by pilot action and why optimal trajectory studies prove the "stick shaker" technique for wind shear recovery is dangerous unless very close to the ground (SAE 86-1701). Described requirement for human factors consideration of pilot interface with automatic systems (SAE 83-1501) and flyby-wire control systems (SAE 85-1836). Defined ALPA requirements for an acceleration monitor. Described safety problem due to differences between certification and operation of rejected takeoff procedures (AIAA 93-4005). Described danger of mixed mode (part manual and part automatic) operation of flight controls (AIAA 2003-6705).
Participant in the investigation of a number of wind shear and other performance related accidents and incidents. Awards: Recipient of Flight Safety Foundation/University of Southern California Award for "Contributions to the Safety of Flight" (1976); ALPA annual Air Safety Award (1977) for "Significant Contributions to Flight Safety"; ALPA Air Safety Outstanding Service Award (1981); IFALPA Scroll of Merit (1986); AIAA Atmospheric Environment Technical Committee Award for "Advancing Professional Growth in Understanding New Technology and Noteworthy Contributions in the Field of Atmospheric Sciences" (1989); ALPA Presidential Citation for Outstanding Service (1993); Aviation Week & Space Technology/ Flight Safety Foundation Distinguished Service Award (1993) for "Distinguished Service in Achieving Safer Utilization of Aircraft"; IFALPA Clarence N. Sayen Award (1994); Boeing-President s Award for "Contributions to Aviation Safety" (1997); Boeing Collier Trophy Award for ALPA participation in B-777 evaluation. Co-recipient with Dr. Angelo Miele and Dr. Tong Wang of the O. Hugo Schuck award from American Controls Conference (1989) for the best paper of 1988, "Optimization and Guidance of Penetration Landing Trajectories in a Windshear". Professional Societies: Member SAE, AIAA, ISASI. Consultant: (A) Dr. Angelo Miele and Aero-Astronautics Group of Rice University on Optimal Trajectory Studies of Aircraft in Wind Shear which has been funded by NASA, ALPA, Boeing, the State of Texas and the Aviation Research and Education Foundation. The result of this work has (1) proven the best (optimal) trajectories for flight in wind shears, (2) shown that deliberate attempts to fly at high angles of attack (stick shaker) will cause aircraft to crash in wind shears that are only half as severe as can be survived with an optimal trajectory, (3) provided an explanation for the airspeed increase associated with accident aircraft just prior to ground impact, (4) developed guidance laws for flight in wind shear, (5) shown that attempting to fly at a constant pitch in a wind shear is inferior to a variable pitch technique required to maintain a quasi optimal trajectory, (6) shown that less than normal pitch rates result in best wind shear performance, (7) developed guidance for optimally landing when a wind shear is too strong to escape, and (8) proven the best technique for survival after the limiting angle of attack has been reached. (B) Office of Technology Innovation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce. Other: (A) Holder of several patents related to instrument flight systems for aircraft. (B) Past Director of Air Safety Workshop (now extinct). (C) Dean of Technology for International Civil Aviation University (ICAU), 1996-98. Wrote the performance manual and edited others. ICAU was pioneered as advanced training for professional pilots, using the distance based learning concept. It is now defunct.
WILLIAM W. MELVIN Publications 1. "Effects of Wind Shear on Approach With Associated Faults of Approach Couplers and Flight Directors", AIAA Aircraft Design and Operations Meeting, Los Angeles, July, 1969, AIAA 69-796. 2. "Effects of Wind Shear on Approach", Pilots Safety Exchange Bulletin 70-103/105, Flight Safety Foundation, April/June, 1970. 3. "Wind Shear on Approach and its Effects Upon Thrust Requirements", Oral Presentation, FAA Symposium on Turbulence, Washington, D. C., March, 1971. 4. "Wind Shear on the Approach", Shell Aviation News, Number 393-1971. Reprinted, Air Line Pilot magazine, November, 1971. 5. "Wind Shear on the Approach", Flight Safety Facts and Analysis, Flight Safety Foundation, March, 1974. 6. "Effects of Wind Shear in the Base Area of Downdrafts", Flight Safety Facts and Reports, Flight Safety Foundation, September, 1975. 7. "Accelerate-Stop", Flight Safety Foundation International Air Safety Seminar, October, 1975. 8. "The Dynamic Effect of Wind Shear", Pilot Safety Exchange Bulletin, Flight Safety Foundation, November/December, 1975. 9. "The Bastard Method of Flight Control", Pilot Safety Exchange Bulletin, March/April, 1976, reprinted Flight Crew magazine. 10. "Limitations of Instantaneous Wind Shear Analysis", Pilot Safety Exchange Bulletin, 1976. 11. "Problems Pilots Face Involving Wind Shear", University of Tennessee Space Institute, March, 1977. 12. "Position of the Airworthiness And Performance Committee of ALPA on Means for Pilots to Optimize Aircraft Performance in Wind Shear Encounters", ALPA letter to Industry, March, 1978. 13. "The Truth About V1", Introduction to article by George Jansen, Air Line Pilot magazine, February, 1979. 14. "What You Don't Know About Wind Shear Can Kill You", Flight Crew magazine, Summer 1980, corrected and reprinted by Air Line Pilots Association, 1982. 15. "Predicting Aircraft Reaction to Wind Shear From Vertical Gradient Profiles", Oral Presentation with handout, SAE Aerospace Congress, October, 1981. 16. "ALPA Statement Concerning Rational Take off Performance and Contaminated Runway Criteria", FAA Conference, Seattle, November, 1981. 17. "Summary Proceedings of a Wind Shear Workshop", NASA Conference Publication 2270, October, 1982, coauthored by J. Enders, W. Frost, & D. Camp. 18. "A Philosophy of Automation", SAE Aerospace Congress, October, 1983, SAE paper 831501. 19. "Microbursts", Flight Safety Foundation Bulletin, 1984, reprinted MD Flight Approach, April, 1984. 20. Microbursts, video produced from material made available by Alan Landsburg Productions with narration and other material added, Air Line Pilots Association, 1984.
21. Requirements for an Acceleration Monitor, ALPA input to SAE A-4 committee, March, 1985. 22. "Pilot Interface With Fly By Wire Control Systems", Twenty- First Annual Conference on Manual Control, Ohio State University, June, 1985. 23. "Pilot Interface With Fly-By-Wire Control Systems", SAE Aerospace Congress, October, 1985, SAE 851836. 24. "Flying Through Microbursts", Air Line Pilot magazine, March, 1986. 25. "A New Look At Piloting Procedures in Microbursts", SAE Aerospace Congress, October, 1986, SAE 861701, Selected for 1986 SAE Aerospace Transactions. 26. "Wind Shear and Pilot Error", Tenth Annual Aviation and Litigation Seminar, The Florida Bar, November, 1986. 27. "New Information From Optimal Trajectory Studies of Aborted Landings In Windshear", SAE Aerospace Congress, October, 1987, SAE paper 872394. 28. "Operational Hazards of Wind Shears", AIAA 26th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, January, 1988, AIAA 88-0691. 29. "Landing In Windshear", Air Line Pilot magazine, May, 1988. 30. "Wind Shear Procedures and Instrumentation", Second Combined Manufacturers' and Technology Airborne Wind Shear Review Meeting, October, 1988. 31. "Windshear--Optimal Trajectory, Human Factors and Miscellaneous Information", SAE Aerospace Congress, October, 1990, SAE 901995. 32. "Aircraft Performance Problems", Safety Mind, Delta MEC Safety Newsletter, First Quarter 1992. 33. What Is V1?", video, Air Line Pilots Association, August, 1992. 34. "Rejected Takeoff Certification", Forum-International Society of Air Safety Investigators, Volume 26, No. 1, March, 1993. 35. "Boeing 777--Fly By Wire Demonstrations", Inter Pilot Magazine, International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations, March, 1993. 36. "Certification and Application of Rejected Takeoff Procedures", AIAA Aircraft Design, Systems, and Operations Meeting, August, 1993, AIAA 93-4005. 37. Windshear Revisited, Part I: Human Factors, Safety Mind, Delta MEC Safety Newsletter, Third Quarter, 1994. 38. Windshear Revisited, Airline Pilot magazine, November, 1994. 39. Presentation to Eighth International Symposium on Aviation Psychology on Human Factors of Rejected Takeoffs, April 24, 1995. 40. Certification and Application of Rejected Takeoff Procedures, Safety Mind, Delta MEC Safety Newsletter, Second Quarter, 1995.
41. ALPA Response to Certification Standards Committee on Aircraft Safety Management, National Research Council Committee, November and December, 1997. 42. Aircraft Performance Manual, International Civil Aviation University, 1998. 43. Decision Speed, html presentation for web browser display of Rejected Take-Off information, March, 2000. 44. Terrain Avoidance and Missed Approach Performance, The Safety Mind, Air Line Pilots Association of Delta Air Lines, Vol. 10, No. 1, January, 2002. 45. How Not To Fly, Third Annual Aviation Technology, Information and Operations Conference, November 2003, AIAA 2003-6705. A. Miele, T. Wang & W. W. Melvin WILLIAM W. MELVIN CO-AUTHORED PUBLICATIONS 1. "Optimal Take-Off Trajectories in the Presence of Windshear", Paper No. AIAA-85-1843, AIAA Flight Mechanics Conference, Snowmass, Colorado, 1985. 2. "Guidance Strategies for Near-Optimum Take-Off Performance in a Windshear", Paper No. AIAA-86-0181, AIAA 24th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, Nevada, 1986. 3. "Quasi-Steady Flight to Quasi-Steady Flight Transition in a Windshear: Trajectory Optimization", Sixth IFAC Workshop on Control Applications of Nonlinear Programming and Optimization, London, England, 1986. 4. "Optimal Flight Trajectories in the Presence of Windshear, Parts 1-4", Rice University, Aero-Astronautics Reports Nos. 191-194, 1985. 5. "Optimal Take-Off Trajectories in the Presence of Windshear", Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 1-45, 1986. 6. "Guidance Strategies for Near-Optimum Performance in a Windshear, Parts 1-2", Rice University, Aero- Astronautics Report Nos. 201-202, 1986. 7. "Guidance Strategies for Near-Optimum Take-Off Performance in a Windshear", Journal of Optimization Theory and applications, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 1-47, 1986. 8. "Optimization and Acceleration Guidance of Flight Trajectories in a Windshear", AIAA paper No. AIAA- 86-2036, AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1986. 9. "Gamma Guidance Schemes and Piloting Implications for Flight in a Windshear", Rice University, Aero- Astronautics Report No. 212, 1986. 10. "Maximum Survival Capability of an Aircraft in a Severe Windshear", Rice University, Aero-Astronautics Report No. 213, 1986. 11. "Optimization and Gamma/Theta Guidance of Flight Trajectories in a Windshear", Paper No. ICAS-86-564, 15th Congress of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, London, England, 1986. 12. "Optimization and Acceleration Guidance of flight Trajectories in a Windshear", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 368-377, 1987.
13. "Quasi-Steady Flight to Quasi-Steady Flight Transition in a Windshear: Trajectory Optimization", Paper No. AIAA-87-0271, 25th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, Nevada, 1987. 14. "Optimization and Guidance of Penetration Landing Trajectories in a Windshear", American Control Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, 1988. 15. "Optimal Penetration Landing Trajectories in the Presence of Windshear", Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 1-40, 1988. 16. Acceleration, Gamma and Theta Guidance for Abort Landing in a Windshear, Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, Vol. 12, No. 6, p. 815, 1989. 17. Real-Time Onboard Wind and Windshear Determination, Part 1: Identification, Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Vol. 84, No. 1, pp. 5-37, January, 1995. 18. Real-Time Onboard Wind and Windshear Determination, Part 2: Detection, Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Vol. 84, No. 1, pp. 39-63, January, 1995. A.Miele, T. Wang, C. Y. Tzeng & W. W. Melvin 19. "Optimal Abort Landing Trajectories in the Presence of Windshear", Rice University, Aero-Astronautics Report No. 215, 1987. 20. "Abort Landing Guidance Trajectories in the Presence of Windshear", Rice University, Aero-Astronautics Report No. 217, 1987. 21. "Optimization and Guidance of Abort Landing Trajectories in a Windshear", Paper No. AIAA-87-2341, AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, Monterey, California, 1987. 22. "Transformation Techniques for Minimax Optimal Control Problems and Their Application to Optimal Flight Trajectories in a Windshear", IFAC 10th World Congress, Munich, Germany, 1987. 23. "Optimal Recovery Techniques from High Angle of Attack Windshear Encounters: Take-Off Case", Rice University, Aero-Astronautics Report No. 236, 1989. 24. "Optimal Recovery Techniques from High Angle of Attack Windshear Encounters: Abort Landing Case", Rice University, Aero-Astronautics Report No. 237, 1989. 25. "Optimal Abort Landing Trajectories in the Presence of Windshear", Journal of Optimization Theory and applications, Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 165-202, 1987. A. Miele, T. Wang, H. Wang & W. W. Melvin 26. "Overview of Optimal Trajectories for Flight in a Windshear", Paper No. AIAA-89-0812, 27th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, Nevada, 1989. A. Miele, T. Wang, W. W. Melvin & R. L. Bowles 27. "Maximum Survival Capability of an Aircraft in a Severe Windshear, Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Vol. 53, No. 2, 1987. 28. "Gamma Guidance Schemes for Flight in a Windshear", Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 320-327, 1988.
29. "Acceleration, Gamma, and Theta Guidance for Abort Landing in a Windshear", Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, Vol. 12, No. 6, 1989.