Come enjoy a special event with us on
Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 7 PM PDT (Add to Calendar)
"An Evening with Stratolaunch"
(including an overview of the aircraft and the Flight 02 recap)
An AIAA LA-LV Online Event on Zoom
Col. Evan “Ivan” Thomas
Director, Flight Operations
Stratolaunch, LLC.
AIAA Senior Member
(Event Speaker, Q&A)
Dr. Zachary C. Krevor
Chief Operating Officer
Stratolaunch, LLC.
AIAA Associate Fellow
(Opening Remark, Q&A)
Mr. Mason Hutchison
Lead Engineer
Stratolaunch, LLC.
(Event Speaker, Q&A)
Please join us!
Tentative Agenda:
7:00 PM PDT: Welcome and Opening Remark (AIAA LA-LV Section and Dr. Zachary C. Krevor)
7:05 PM PDT: Col. Evan “Ivan” Thomas
7:35 PM PDT: Mr. Mason Hutchison
8:05 PM PDT: Q&A (Col. Evan “Ivan” Thomas, Mr. Mason Hutchison, Dr. Zachary C. Krevor)
8:35 PM PDT: Adjourn
Dr. Zachary C. Krevor is the Chief Operating Officer at Stratolaunch. Dr. Krevor is responsible for overseeing many of the programmatic and operations functions of Stratolaunch, including oversight of the carrier aircraft, the Talon hypersonic vehicle, conversion of the carrier aircraft into a mobile launch platform, systems engineering, operations, and leadership for many of the business functions.

Dr. Krevor has a M.S. and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA. Dr. Krevor has experience with a wide range of spacecraft and launch vehicle programs. Dr. Krevor worked as an engineer on the Lockheed Martin Orion program and as a member of Lockheed’s Altair Lunar Lander team. Prior to Stratolaunch, Dr. Krevor was a Chief Systems Engineer on the Dream Chaser program for Sierra Nevada Corporation. Dr. Krevor also provided technical leadership for Sierra Nevada’s Space Systems Advanced Development group. Prior to becoming the Chief Operating Officer at Stratolaunch LLC, Dr. Krevor was the Vice President of Engineering at Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, with leadership responsibility for launch vehicle development and integration with the carrier aircraft. Dr. Krevor is an AIAA Associate Fellow, a member of the Space Systems Technical Committee, and a private pilot.
Col. Evan “Ivan” Thomas is the Director of Flight Operations for Stratolaunch, LLC. He is responsible for safe and effective flight test and operational use of the Stratolaunch carrier aircraft and other company aircraft, and ensuring readiness and compliance for all flight crew.

Evan was raised in Southern California, and pursued his dream of flying by attending the United States Air Force Academy, graduating in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Astronautical Engineering. After earning his Air Force pilot wings, Evan completed two operational tours flying the F-16, including leading 52 combat missions over Iraq and occupied Kuwait, highlighted by the rescue of an encircled Special Forces team. In 1994 he was a pilot on the Overall Top Team at the USAF ‘William Tell’ Air-to-Air Weapons Meet. Evan was competitively selected to attend the Empire Test Pilots’ School in the United Kingdom, where he flew a wide variety of aircraft and qualified as an Experimental Test Pilot. From there, Evan returned to the F-16 as a Test Pilot at the F-16 Combined Test Force, Edwards AFB, California, and in his off-duty time earned a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from California State University Fresno. In 2003, Evan took command of the 411th Flight Test Squadron, charged with completing the intensive developmental flight test program on the F-22 Raptor. Evan led the squadron, and later the entire F-22 Combined Test Force, through it’s highest testing pace to meet the Raptor’s initial combat-ready requirement. Evan was selected to attend the National War College, where he earned a Masters degree in National Security Strategy. He served as the Director of Operations for the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre in Italy prior to his final Air Force assignment as the Vice Wing Commander for the 46th Test Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida. In December 2010, Evan retired from active duty in the rank of Colonel.

Following retirement from the USAF, Evan returned to California and took a position as an Instructor Test Pilot with Calspan Corporation, where he flew the variable-stability VISTA F-16 and VSS Learjet as a handling qualities flight and academic instructor at the USAF Test Pilot School. In this role, Evan led initial flight tests involving advanced flight control algorithms, autonomous formation and mission systems, and automatic collision avoidance systems. He was twice awarded the David Barnes Award as the top flight instructor at the USAF Test Pilot School. In 2018, Evan transitioned to Scaled Composites, LLC, as Test Pilot, and then Project Pilot for the Model 351 Stratolaunch aircraft. Evan was Pilot in Command for the historic Stratolaunch first flight in April 2019. He was the recipient of the 2019 Iven C. Kincheloe Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and also shared the 2019 Ray Tenhoff Award with the Stratolaunch first flight crew. “Ivan” has over 5,300 hours on 30+ aircraft types, including over 3,500 hours in the F-16.
Evan has shared his career with his high school sweetheart, Natalie. Natalie and Evan married in 1987, and she held down the home front through 12 family moves, including three overseas tours. Their first son was born while Evan was airborne on a combat mission over Iraq, and their second son is currently serving in the USAF. They live in Lancaster, California, and have four grandchildren.
Mr. Mason Hutchison started his engineering career at Ball Aerospace, working on the Airborne Laser program, focusing on material interaction of laser engagement. It was a lifelong interest in experimental aviation design that later drew him to Scaled Composites. It is there that he gained experience in design, build, and testing of the SpaceShip2 feather deployment system. Soon after, he completed the WhiteKnight2 landing gear design and release system and saw them through flight test. From there, Mason led the Flight Controls design team on the Stratolaunch aircraft. Currently, Mason works for Stratolaunch as the lead engineer for the Release System for the Talon hypersonic unmanned system.
Tickets: (No Refund within 7 days before the event. No Refund on or after the day of the event.)
$2.95: AIAA Professional Member
$5.95: Non-AIAA Member - Professional
$1.95: AIAA Educator Member
$4.95: Non-AIAA Member - Educator
$1.45: AIAA University Student Member
$4.45: Non-AIAA Member - University Student
$0 (No Charge): AIAA High School (HS) Student Member, Non AIAA Member HS Student, and other K-12 Student
(Those K-12 student registrants will be required to type in a statement during registration to confirm with honesty they are indeed High School or K-12 Students.)
$2.95: AIAA Member - Other Categories
$5.95: Non-AIAA Member - Other Categories
$0 (No Charge): AIAA Life-Time Member
$0 (No Charge): AIAA Member with 20 or more years of membership
Disclaimer: The views of the speakers do not represent the views of AIAA or the AIAA Los Angeles-Las Vegas Section
AIAA Los Angeles-Las Vegas Section
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