Celebrating Aviation

Editor’s Note

Celebrating Aviation

By Michelle Garetson

September 2002

Who could have imagined nearly a century ago how two brothers and their support teams would change so many lives? I'm talking about the Wright brothers, their mechanic Charles E. Taylor, as well as their suppliers of materials for the first airplanes that took to the skies in 1903. One hundred years on, aviation still has its pioneers who help the industry continue in moving forward.

The decades following that first flight have had their own 'firsts.' From William E. Boeing building and test flying his first airplane, the "B& W" trainer, in 1916, to the Cessna XL-19B, the world's first turboprop light plane, making its first flight in Wichita, Kansas in 1952, to the first man on the moon in 1969, to the Concorde making its first transatlantic crossing in 1971, to 1994 for the test flight of Boeing 777; the first aircraft to be designed entirely on a computer, to the present decade, where we will see in 2006, the launch of the Airbus' first A380 Superjumbo that can carry 555 passengers.

Generation after generation, aerospace equipment manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, regulatory bodies, and affiliated associations have worked together to improve quality, safety, and service in the aviation industry. The same holds true today.

In the centennial anniversary year of powered flight, these groups will gather together in Las Vegas, Nevada in May 2003 for the first, true aviation super show. Formerly known as AS3 - Aviation Services and Suppliers Supershow, the combined show of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) and the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA); this new event will still offer much of the same elements such as conferences and exhibits, but with a twist. Cygnus Business Media, parent company of GSE Today, Aircraft Maintenance Technology, Airport Business, and Cygnus Expositions' GSE International Expo, has purchased the AS3 SuperShow from NATA and PAMA and will now co-locate the Aviation SuperShow with the GSE International Expo 2003 in order to present the most comprehensive aviation convention in the industry.

GSE Today is excited to be a part of this new venture and we invite you to join us next month for GSE International Expo 2002, as well in May 2003, to celebrate the past, present, and future of aviation.

Thanks for reading.

Michelle Garetson

Editor’s contact information: editor@gsetoday.com or call 920-563-1622