Meet the Contributors

KEITH CIANFRANI is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, Army instructor pilot and master aviator. He was an advisor to the director of Army safety, an aviation safety officer and accident investigator while at the U.S. Army Safety/Combat Readiness Center. Keith authored many aviation safety articles in the center’s Flight Fax magazine. He holds a master’s degree in aerospace safety from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Keith is a certified flight instructor and has flown commercial aircraft in and around the Philadelphia and New York areas for more than 20 years. As a safety expert, he owns and operates an aviation safety consulting business and provides consulting for FOX 29 News in Philadelphia. Keith also is the director of Army Junior ROTC for the School District of Philadelphia.

GIOVANNI DE BRIGANTI has covered the aerospace and defense industry for longer than he cares to remember. Born in Italy, he lived in Texas, Virginia and South Australia before settling in Paris. He is currently editor-in-chief of www.defense-aerospace.com, a news Web site, having previously worked for Defense News, Armed Forces Journal and various European defense publications, including two that he founded. A self-avowed total helicopter person, he has been covering European issues for Rotor & Wing since the mid-1980s.

WIM DAS (left) and KEES OTTEN (right) report on Royal Netherlands Air Force Apaches’ night training for service in Afghanistan in this issue. They are working on an article on the Slovak Republic’s air force helicopter operations for an upcoming issue.

RAY PROUTY spent 35 years in the helicopter industry, working for Hughes, Sikorsky, Bell, Lockheed, and then back to Hughes on the Apache. Since "retiring" in 1987, he has kept busy writing, teaching and consulting. His Ask Ray Prouty column is a reader favorite.

ANN ROOSEVELT updates us this month on the U.S. UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopter. A defense writer since 1991, she covers Army and international defense ground force policy and programs for Defense Daily, a sister publication of R&W.

ERNIE STEPHENS is a retired county police sergeant and chief pilot with a B.S. in management of technical operations and an M.S. in aeronautical science, both from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he also teaches. He served as chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Council of Governments’ Disaster Assistance Recovery Team from 1997 to 2006. He has been writing for R&W since 2004, and was a finalist for the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award. Look for him at R&W’s Search & Rescue Summit 2008 in Reston, Va. on Sept. 18, where he will be visiting with our readers and moderating a panel discussion entitled "Old Lessons, New Tools in Search & Rescue."