Robert F. Behler

When I was 16 years old, I was fortunate to be on a professional power boat racing team in central New York. It didn’t take me long to realize that the two things I loved most were loud noise and speed. About 16 years later I was the pilot of the fastest airplane in the world, the SR-71 Blackbird. To get to that point in my career was not trivial; received a MS in Aerospace Engineering, graduated from USAF pilot training and was a distinguished graduate from the USAF Test Pilot School before being selected to fly the Blackbird. During that journey I observed and helped shape the future of aviation. Airplanes are fast, but technology is moving faster. Aviation, commercial and military needs to keep up. Today aircraft are defined by software, but it is the least understood system. Humans have an insatiable appetite to fly faster. Physics explains that the faster an airplane flies the hotter the skin temperature becomes. For example, when I flew the SR-71 at Mach 3+ the skin temperature was about 700 degrees F. At Mach 5 the skin temperature will approach 2500 degrees F. Propulsion systems, heat resistant materials, navigation and autonomy are technological challenges that will need to be solved before commercial and military aircraft can routinely fly safely at near hypersonic speeds. This presentation addresses possible futures for aviation. The presentation is well suited for major corporations developing business strategies, college graduate inspirational seminars, aerospace startup companies, and keynote presentations.