COL Richard Melnyk Associate Professor Director, Academic Flight Program richard.melnyk [at] westpoint.edu About Education Research & Publications Colonel Rich Melnyk was commissioned as an Aviation Officer from the U.S. Military Academy in 1995. He has served in a variety of Aviation and Military Intelligence units with leadership responsibilities up to the Battalion Command level. Colonel Melnyk has served in the department from 2004-2007 and again from 2015 to the present and has taught and directed courses in the Aeronautics, Design, Thermal-Fluids, and Materials and Manufacturing threads. He currently leads the Aeronautical Thread. Colonel Melnyk is the senior Aviator in the department and leads the Academy’s Academic Flight program responsible for the safe and effective use of all manned and unmanned aircraft at the Academy for academic and research purposes. He is a Master Army Aviator with over 3,300 flight hours in ten different Army aircraft. Battalion Commander, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia (2013-2015) Battalion Operations Officer, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia (2008-2010) Air Cavalry Troop Commander, Camp Humphreys, Korea (2001-2002) Battalion Logistics and Budget Officer, Fort Bragg (Known as Fort Liberty since 2023), NC (1999-2000) Battalion Personnel and Human Resources Officer, Fort Bragg, North Carolina (1998-1999) Attack Helicopter Platoon Leader, Camp Page, Korea (1997) Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering - Georgia Institute of TechnologyM.S. in Aerospace Engineering - Georgia Institute of TechnologyB.S. in Mechanical Engineering - U.S. Military Academy Research Interests Unmanned Aircraft, Systems Integration, Design Methods, Andragogy Current Research Quadcopter Rotor Interference Selected Publications Melnyk, R., Osmon, M., Robinson, D., Ross, J., Ester, G. “Analyzing the Impossible Turn”. Presented at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics SciTech conference 2024, Orlando, FL, January 8-12, 2024.San Martin, E., Melnyk, R. “Experimental Model for Rotor Disk Vortex Interference Effects on Quadcopter UAV Thrust Performance”, presented at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) 2022, Columbus, OH, October 30-November 3, 2022.Melnyk, R.V.; Beattie, O; and Waller, B, “Scaled Crash Testing Using Modeling, Similitude, and Experimentation”, presented at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) 2021, November 1-5, 2021, Virtual.San Martin, E., Paquin, J., Harris, E., Kirby, D., Melnyk, R., “Incorporation of Blade Twist and Non-Uniform Inflow Effects in Undergraduate Helicopter Aeronautics Whirl Stand Laboratory”, presented at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) 2021, November 1-5, 2021, Virtual.Melnyk, R.V. “A Program for Managing Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Engineering Education”, presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference July 26-29, 2021. Virtual.Melnyk, R.V. “Setting Certification Standards for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Control Links” presented at AIAA Scitech Conference, San Diego, CA January 7-11, 2019.Melnyk, R.V., Schrage, D., Volovoi, V., Jimenez, H. “A Third-Party Casualty Risk Model for Unmanned Aircraft System Operations” Reliability Engineering and System Safety Journal, 124(2014) 105-116.Melnyk, R.V., Schrage, D., Volovoi, V., Jimenez, H. Sense and Avoid Requirements for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Using a Target Level of Safety Approach” Risk Analysis Journal, DOI 10.1111 (2014).