BIAS Director Demonstrates New Craft In Paris Air Show

by Judy Long

Dr. Max Shauck, director of the Baylor Institute for Air Science (BIAS), demonstrated the Sniffer, the Institute's newest aircraft development, at the International Show of Aeronautics and Space, also known as the Paris Air Show, June 18-22 in Paris, France.
BIAS engineers, working closely with the aircraft's designers, developed the Sniffer, a version of a new, lightweight Italian aircraft, the Revenge M10, to run on ethanol and incorporate the most technologically advanced air quality measurement instrumentation. The Sniffer will be an air-quality measuring craft produced for around $50,000, where previous planes with similar measuring capabilities cost as much as a million dollars.
To improve efficiency with its annual air sampling studies, BIAS began designing a smaller air-sampling craft in 1998. Instead of housing the scientific instruments in the rear of the plane, the Sniffer distributes the equipment throughout the craft, including behind the seats and in the wings. It also consolidates some of the mechanical requirements of the instruments, such as fans and generators, to reduce weight and bulk. The Sniffer's enhancements have led to the detection of trace gases in the atmosphere, improved meteorological measuring, lowered exhaust emissions and have lower operating costs than other planes of similar size.
Known as one of the world's leading aerospace and aviation conferences, the Paris Air Show is held every other year and draws aviation companies and suppliers from around the world.
For more information, contact the Baylor Institute for Air Science at (254) 710-3563.