What is the WIC ?
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The WIC project (World Interface Communication), conceived and designed by Jean-Louis Tournier who is an engineer at the ENSEEIHT electronic laboratory in Toulouse, is an especially adapted telecommunication system that enables deaf pilots to fly and communicate easier through controlled airspace. The software is ready but it needs financial support for final trials. This project actually aims to show the feasibility and the viability of such an interface. Its creators are not about to bypass the usual procedures.

About the WIC :
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This project was born in 1997, thanks to Jean-Louis Tournier, teacher and researcher at the ENSEEIHT electronic laboratory (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Electotechnique, d'Electronique, d'Informatique, d'Hydraulique de Toulouse) in Toulouse, Southern France. Jean-Louis Tournier met Henri Corderoy du Tiers, President of the French Deaf Pilots Association (aeroclub-sourds) on June 16, 1997, which was the origin of his idea. Later he developed a communications interface that would enable deaf pilots to fly easily. In 1998, Jean-Louis Tournier won an award from the Aéro-club de France. In July 1999, two engineering students gave a lecture at the Aicraft Owners Pilots Association (AOPA) headquarters during the 6th IDPA fly-in at Frederick Airport, Maryland, USA. In September, 1999, a group of five persons, all students at the ENSEEIHT, got involved in this project and decided to update the software to help deaf pilots and to help make the project known to all over the world.

The ENSEEIHT's students :
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The following persons are all students at the ENSEEIHT in different sections at school. They were brought together by Jean-Louis Tournier, teacher and researcher at the school's electronic laboratory, the LEN7. They have updated the following points: seeking funding for the project, classifying aeronautic phraseology, programming, and setting up the transmission.

State of affairs and objectives :
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The WIC project is, for the moment, only able to make a presentation and to demonstrate the pilot's communication environment. Nevertheless, while the five students are in the process of developing this product, the transmission between computers is now progressing. Once the transmission is tested and declared operational, the work will be various: to develop the ergonomics and the practical aspect of the man-engine interface; to shapen the aeronautic phraseology and make it available in different languages; to make the presentation clearer; and to complete the navigation instruments that appear on the screen.

The Deaf Pilots Association :
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In july 1994, about 30 deaf pilots including a Frenchman, with valid American private pilot's licenses, met at the Knoxville Airport in Tenessee, USA, to establish the "International Deaf Pilots Association" (IDPA). This association defends deaf pilot interests and rights. There are at least 150 deaf and hearing impaired private pilots (with American licenses) and which include a Frenchman, an Australian, a Japanese and two Canadians, as well as a deaf private helicopter pilot. At the initiation of Henri Corderoy du Tiers, a French deaf pilot, about 30 Europeans, all deaf or hearing-impaired, met in Noisiel, France, to establish the IDPA-Europe. One of its goals is to develop different possibilities for deaf or hear-impaired persons to practice an aeronautic activity while respecting to the safety conditions like everyone else. On April 23, 1996, the IDPA-Europe divided into national associations. aeroclub-sourds was established with about 10 members at the Aero-club de France. French, European or international fly-in events and training programs are organized each year. Henri Cordroy du Tiers, a former French Civil Aeronautical (DGAC) technician and at present working with CAD at Dassault Systemes, is the first licensed microlight deaf pilot in Europe (in 1986). Thanks to his American pilot license, he is also the first deaf person in Europe to get an American private pilot's license (in 1990). Since 1984, he has flown more than 700 hours of which 330 solo in the USA since 1990, and 44 solo from France in 1991. He established the European and French associations of deaf pilots (IDPA-Europe in 1995 and aeroclub-sourds in 1996) as national chapters of the IDPA. The goals of this association is to develop deaf pilot rights to practice all the aeronautics activities in France and in Europe. An international fly-in event has been organized each year since 1984 in the USA. More and more deaf and hearing-impaired pilots fly there to participate with their own or rented aircrafts. In April 1997, when the aeroclub-sourds joined the Aero-Club de France, the "Commission Pilotes Handicapés" (Handicapped Pilots Committee) was established. Its objective is to make the handicapped pilot rights known and acknowledged at higher levels. The new committee's president, Dorine Bourneton, represents the physically handicapped pilots. The vice president, Henri Corderoy du Tiers, represents the deaf and hearing-impaired pilots. In April 2000, the Deaf Pilots Committee was established at Aero-Club de France in Paris.

Address :
aeroclub-sourds Association 46, rue de Varenne 75007 Paris, France
Fax : +331.4544.3370
Internet: http://www.volez.com/aeroclub-sourds/index.html

How to contact us :
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For more information, you can use the following addresses and phone numbers :

Monsieur Jean-Louis Tournier [teacher and researcher at the LEN7, ENSEEIHT-INP-Toulouse] :

tournier@len7.enseeiht.fr
office : +335.61.58.83.23
fax : +335.61.58.82.37
cellular phone: +336.61.80.39.42

Bruno Ebe :
bruno.ebe@spi.enseeiht.fr
cellular phone : +336.61.99.37.42

Jean-Phillipe Salanne : jean-philippe.salanne@spi.enseeiht.fr
Grégory Pellegatta : grégory.pellegatta@spi.enseeiht.fr
Olivier Rieux : olivier.rieux@spi.enseeiht.fr
Ludovic Cassan : ludovic.cassan@spi.enseeiht.fr