(January 2011) Last November a group of 50 members of the F37 committee gathered for its biannual meeting. No, it wasn’t to test a futuristic stealth-fighter aircraft (though, interestingly, a Google search reveals the F/A-37 Talon is one of the fictional aircraft used in Hollywood films). Indeed, on the surface F37 is seemingly much less captivating and more mundane than the fictional aircraft — but with real-world application: the ASTM International Technical Committee F37 on Light Sport Aircraft.
First, a bit of background: All of the ASTM International Technical Committees work within the framework of ASTM International. The not-for-profit organization, which has some 30,000 members in some 135 countries, according to its website, provides a forum for its members to develop and publish international voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, services and systems. Dry, I know. But you might be surprised to know that these standards guide the manufacture of products found in most of our everyday lives, from the brick and mortar of our homes to the fuel additives in our cars (and airplanes) and even in the development of systems for not-so-ordinary unmanned aircraft, just to name a few (there are some 12,000 ASTM standards in use today).
