Aviation Spoken Here

Professor envisions university-owned airport hangar as the next step in the evolution of the Aerospace Engineering Department

Cal Poly Professor Paulo Iscold’s simple belief is driving one of the most innovative projects in the College of Engineering: “Everyone likes airplanes.”

Or loves airplanes, in the case of Iscold.

The aerospace engineering professor, whose presence is as big as his vision, led a recent tour through the hangar the university rents at the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport. He spends countless hours there teaching students how to work in an aviation environment while he dreams about a permanent space for the endeavor.

Iscold’s wife once posited that not everyone may be as enamored with airplanes as he is, but the Brazilian who grew up watching his father design airplanes and then broke speed records with his own constructions will not be swayed. Iscold knows that by introducing as many students as he can to the environment he loves, they will develop a similar passion for airplanes and flight.

“Look at those who are succeeding: They have that component of passion,” Iscold said. “And it’s easy to develop that passion in this space.”

For the first time last fall, aerospace engineering students gathered in a ground station unique to Cal Poly where they recorded engine data, air speed and radio communications while the university’s airplane was in flight overhead, gaining real-world experience.

College of Engineering Dean Amy Fleischer calls the hangar an “enabling space” that presents students with a unique applied research experience at a one-of-a-kind facility.

“We are enabling and empowering our Cal Poly students to be aerospace engineers in an environment that evokes a sense of wonder and possibility,” Fleischer said. “We really are leaning into the culture and feeling of being an engineer.”

Opening Doors

Visitors to the hangar are greeted by a sign on the front door that reminds all who enter “aviation is spoken here” as their first sight is Cal Poly’s gleaming white Cirrus SR22T.

“There is that ‘whoa factor’ right away,” said Iscold who added it’s impossible not to react to the four-seat, single-engine airplane in front of them.

While the natural inclination may be to swing wide of the plane, Iscold encourages just the opposite. He wants everyone entering to get as close as possible to the plane that is instrumental to students pursuing aviation performance careers.

“We aren’t training pilots, but we are introducing our students to the environment where aerospace engineers operate, which many of our students have never experienced,” Iscold said.

Some, he said, have not seen an airplane up close, let alone flown in one, and Iscold knows that hands-on experience is integral to their success in the program and later in the real world.

In the hangar’s lower level, Iscold teaches his students how to inspect the plane, check fuel levels, manage the engine and complete a checklist of takeoff procedures.

With Iscold taking the lead, the group readies the plane for departure together, but as they learn and grow, the professor puts more responsibility on the students themselves. Iscold pinpoints a moment in his instruction when he poses this preflight question to an individual: “Am I good to go?” The reactions run the gamut, he said, from confidence to second-guessing but they all reveal an understanding of their crucial role in flight preparation.

In the ground station on the hangar’s upper level, students learn the language of flying. Aviation culture has its own lingo — just as in surf culture — that members must adopt to navigate effectively. Students are taught to communicate over the radio in a clear, concise way and collaborate as they record an immense amount of information coming in from the skies.

“We expose students to the real world while they are still inside the aquarium,” Iscold explained. “We can protect them as they learn, then send them out with the skills and passion to achieve excellence.”

Airport Hangar is a ‘Game Changer’

For future aerospace engineers, learning in an aviation environment is a game changer, according to Class of 2020 graduate Zach Yamauchi.

“There is a massive difference between graduates who have that hands-on experience versus those who only learned in a classroom with textbooks. It’s not even a comparison,” said Yamauchi, who now works as an aerospace engineer at a local company that develops unmanned aircraft.

Yamauchi still talks excitedly about his work with Iscold to complete the sailplane Nixus Iscold brought with him upon his arrival to Cal Poly in 2018.

Students gathered at Cal Poly’s hangar space on weekends to help Iscold construct the first manned general aviation fly-by-wire aircraft. In the process, they learned about composite construction, rigging, connecting control surfaces, avionics and the electric fly-by-wire system.

Yamauchi believes those hangar lessons gave him a distinct advantage over his peers who didn’t learn in a similar space. “It really set me up for success,” he said.

Both Yamauchi and Iscold champion a Cal Poly-owned hangar that could house more planes and accommodate more students.

Cal Poly has two planes — the Cirrus SR22T and Van’s Aircraft RV-7 kit craft — but the rented hangar can’t hold both at the same time along with all the equipment and machines needed for prototyping performance modifications.

A larger space with greater accessibility could accommodate more than the 12 students who now can gather in the hangar’s ground station at one time, while faculty offices could bring more professors on-site.

But Iscold’s vision doesn’t stop there.

He ponders the prospects for testing drone intelligence, furthering partnerships with aerospace companies and employing students at a Cal Poly-owned hangar.

“We really can push the envelope of what’s possible,” Yamauchi agreed. ■