Upon his retirement as a non-routine flight operations captain from a fractional operator in 2015, Dr. Veillette had accumulated more than 20,000 hours of flight experience in 240 types of aircraft—including balloons, rotorcraft, sea plans, glides, war birds, supersonic jets and large commercial transports. He is an adjunct professor at Utah Valley University. In June 2023, he won the prestigious Bill Gunston Technology Writer of the Year Award.
While anti-icing fluids negate the serious effects of wing icing, recent research has determined the fluids themselves extract a significant penalty from the wing's aerodynamic capabilities.
A few unsuspecting flight crews have suddenly found their transports turned into gliders by volcanic eruption materials temporarily snuffing their engines.
Attendees at the World Meteorological Organization's Volcanic Ash Workshop in October 2015 learned of efforts to improve the forecasting of volcanic ash plumes.
