Paul Rich, an Aerospace Engineer, has spent over 45 years in the aerospace research and development field as an employee of the Federal government (CAA/FAA) for 35 years and as a consultant to NASA for more than 10 years.
Mr. Rich has written numerous technical reports available in the Library of Congress, FAA, NASA, AIAA, ION, and SAE archives. Some of his achievements under the auspices of the FAA include the development and refinement of survivability test criteria for aircraft Flight Data and Voice Recorders (Crash Recorders “Black Boxes”). No crash recorders have been lost since the incorporation of these standards. Mr. Rich participated in the cockpit and cockpit visibility certification of all commercial aircraft from the Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8 era to the Boeing 747, Douglas DC-10, and Lockheed 1011 era. He also performed similar evaluations for most military aircraft of this time period and testified as the expert witness in NTSB accident investigations. Mr. Rich also assisted NASA in the cockpit visibility design layout of the Apollo and LEM prior to the first moon landing. Mr. Rich designed flight simulators for collision avoidance experiments and performed extensive research in this area which earned him numerous awards. In the latter part of his career with the FAA, Mr. Rich developed and published standards for Area Navigation, the precursor to today’s Flight Management System. He was also instrumental in the development of specifications and standards for the Air Traffic Control system currently being implemented by the FAA.
After retiring from the FAA, Paul Rich continued working as a full time consultant in aerospace research and development supporting NASA Headquarters. He has performed this function as an employee/owner of SAIC, a large business and as the President of TRG, a small business.
Mr. Rich has published numerous technical reports for internal NASA use. Some of the highlights of his efforts include leading a contractor team to support NASA in the development of research goals and objectives for NASA Aerospace Technology from 2000 to 2025. NASAS subsequently published a research roadmap utilizing this long-range plan. In addition Mr. Rich has provided support to all the NASA Aerospace program elements: Aviation Safety, Propulsions, Information Technology and High Speed Computing, Wind Tunnels, Rotorcraft, Small Aircraft Transportation, Advanced Air Traffic Management, Access to Space, Mars Flyer, Environmental compatibility, and Fuel cell research. He also supported NASA HQ in business models for facility investments, market analyses and privatization and commercialization. Mr. Rich led a contractor team at NASA Ames for one-year assignment to initiate a program to establish the NASA research into the Air Traffic Management system of the future, beyond 2025. This program continues on today and in cooperation with the FAA should lead to new national and then international systems of air traffic control.
Mr. Rich continues consulting to NASA and to businesses seeking to improve the future of aviation.