Dan Sharpes
Membership Committee Chair
Dan has a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from West Virginia University. He served at the Air Force’s Flight Dynamics Lab, developing methodologies and algorithms to predict the stability and control of aircraft like the X-29 technology demonstrator. After transitioning to civilian life, he helped the Air Force buy the C-17 Globemaster III. Dan received a master degree in aeronautics from the University of Dayton. Leaving Wright-Patterson for New Mexico’s Kirtland Air Force Base, he contributed to the design, development, and flight testing of the Airborne Laser, a 747 with a multi-megawatt laser that shot down boosting ballistic missiles. Once certified as flightworthy, he moved on to the Air Force’s Directed Energy Directorate, where he explored the challenges of putting lasers on aircraft ranging from the MC-12W (a militarized Super King Air) to tanker aircraft. Retiring in 2019, he now pursues a degree in history and museum studies, contributing to the US Southwest Soaring Museum in Moriarty. Dan owns a Cessna 172 which he uses for flight instruction.