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Join us for an in person presentation with Mike Dennis from Oregon Aero, Inc.. Mike will deliver a practical, pilot focused “Seat School” on comfort, fatigue, and what actually matters in aircraft seating and helmet fit, then pivot to an exceptional case study from Oregon Aero’s work supporting the F-22 Raptor Life Support System Task Force.

When the F-22 fleet was grounded due to pilot symptoms that resembled low blood oxygen events, Oregon Aero collaborated with the Air Force Research Laboratory to design and manufacture a helmet ear seal that could accept an oxygen sensor for investigative data collection, while still maintaining comfort and noise attenuation. Oregon Aero also managed multi contractor integration and delivered more than 435 helmet systems to multiple locations, within budget and ahead of schedule. Data from the sensor and a pulse oximeter helped rule out low blood oxygen saturation as the cause, and investigators ultimately traced the issue to malfunctioning valves in the pressurized vest that restricted breathing during high G maneuvers.

Oregon Aero’s contributions were recognized with a U.S. Air Force Director’s Award for employees involved in the effort, which leadership described as one of the Air Force’s toughest life support system challenges in recent memory. Mike will close with the “F-22 mystery” explanation, a fascinating, real world example of how human factors engineering, life support systems, and acquisition execution intersect in aviation safety.