When it comes to aerospace industry awards, Flight International proved it knows how to turn on the style!

Top models from some of the leading Paris fashion houses provided the perfect counterpoint to the '97 awards ceremony last evening at Le Meridien Montparnasse with a special aerospace industry-inspired fashion show.

Elite names of the fashion world, including Hermes, Guy Laroche, Nina Ricci and Pierre Balmain, collaborated for the breathtaking extravaganza, bringing the world of haute couture to a capacity crowd which equally reflected a full spectrum of the aerospace industry elite.

But beyond the stylish whimsy of the fashion show, clearly enjoyed by all, was a serious message that the Flight International Aerospace Awards recognise excellence in achievement, endorsed by an independent, international panel of experts.

Flight International Editor-In- Chief Allan Winn highlighted the significant role which the awards have achieved in a relatively short time.

 

Experts

"They are the only awards judged independently by an international panel of industry experts; they are the only ones which span the industry; they are the only ones which companies enter, rather than being nominated for," he said.

"They are, in short, the awards that the industry wants to win."

The prestigious Personality of the Year award went to Shen Yuankang, Vice-Minister of General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, in recognition of his efforts to help strengthen air safety in China's fast growing civil aviation sector.

The improvement in China's levels of air safety has been dramatic over the past three years.

The country's civil aviation regime has undergone a major overhaul, with a sharper focus on safety procedures and oversight in the burgeoning airline industry.

Safety was also a key factor in the Air Transport Award, which went to AlliedSignal Aerospace, Commercial Avionics Systems for its pioneering work on the enhanced ground-proximity warning system (EGPWS) in the fight to reduce fatal aviation accidents.

The Business and General Aviation Award went to Rockwell Avionics and Communications, Collins General Aviation division, for making advanced avionics and satellite-based navigation available for mid-size corporate jets.

The Corporate Strategy Award went to Embraer for successfully launching the EMB-145 onto the world market, while battling with privatisation and overcoming heavy losses.

The Environment Award went to Manchester Airport for winning approval for construction of a second runway through work with local communities.

The Helicopters Award went to Eurocopter for cooperative development of the advanced EC120 light helicopter with emphasis on very low levels of noise emission.

The Infrastructure Award went to joint winners Luftfartsverket and SAS for pioneering work within the NEAN project to demonstrate the potential of ADS-B to modernise.

The Maintenance Award went to Richard Wolf for combining grinding and borescope tools to allow compressor-blade repairs without engine removal.

 

Display

The Military Aviation Award went to Sukhoi Design Bureau for first flight and air display of the super-agile thrust-vectored Su-37 fighter.

The Space and Missiles Award went to respective winners Surrey Satellite Technology for pioneering of microsatellites to give more nations affordable access to space, and Rafael for the highly agile Python-4 next-generation air-to-air missile.

The Systems and Components Awards went to joint winners BF Goodrich Avionics Systems and Meggitt Avionics for development of solid-state electronic standby instrument systems.

The Training and Safety Award went to The Flight Data Company for making flight data analysis accessible and affordable, running on a PC.

Winn commented: "To all of those who have taken part in this year's competition, our thanks; to those who made the finalists' shortlist, our congratulations; to those who have won the 1997 awards, our admiration."

Source: Flight Daily News