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Report describes study of performance of digital mobile/satellite communication terminals of advanced design intended for use in ground stations and airplanes in aeronautical-mobile service. Study was collaboration of NASA, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Communications Satellite Corp. (COMSAT), and International Maritime Satellite System (INMARSAT).
In order to accommodate the rapid growth in commercial aviation throughout the remainder of this century, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is faced with a formidable challenge to upgrade and/or modernize the National Airspace System (NAS) without compromising safety or efficiency. A recurring theme in both the Aviation System Capital Investment Plan (CIP), which has replaced the NAS Plan, and the new FAA Plan for Research, Engineering, and Development (RE&D) rely on the application of new technologies and a greater use of automation. Identifying the high-level functional and system impacts of such modernization efforts on future civil transport operational requirements, particularly in terms of cockpit functionality and information transfer, was the primary objective of this project. The FAA planning documents for the NAS of the 2005 era and beyond were surveyed; major aircraft functional capabilities and system components required for such an operating environment were identified. A hierarchical structured analysis of the information processing and flows emanating from such functional/system components were conducted and the results documented in graphical form depicting the relationships between functions and systems.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has accepted the Loran-C navigation system as a supplemental navigation aid for enroute use. Extension of Loran-C utilization to instrument approaches requires establishment of a process by which the current level of performance of the system is always known by the pilot. This system 'integrity' translates into confidence that, if the system is made available to the pilot, the guidance will be correct. Early in the consideration of Loran-C for instrument approaches, the Loran-C Planning Work-Group (LPW) was formed with membership from the FAA, the US Coast Guard, various state governments, aviation users, equipment manufacturers and technical experts. The group was hosted and co-chaired by the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO). This forum was ideal for identification of system integrity issues and for finding the correct process for their resolution. Additionally, the Wild Goose Association (WGA), which is the international Loran-C technical and user forum, regularly brings together members of the FAA, Coast Guard, and the scientific community. Papers and discussions from WGA meetings have been helpful. Given here is a collection of the issues in which Ohio University became involved. Issues definition and resolution are included along with the recommendations in those areas where resolution is not yet complete.
Civil aviation serves a strategic interest to the United States. Thus, the need to maintain a high standard of aviation safety is axiomatic. While the industry has witnessed phenomenal growth in the past two decades, the proportion of aging aircraft in air carrier fleets has been ever increasing-a trend that is projected to continue. Certain events which occurred in 1988 and previous years and public concern about the safety of the high time aircraft led to an International Conference on Aging Aircraft in Washington, D.C., during which a number of aviation safety related issues applicable to aging aircraft were raised and discussed among the conference participants. Various groups that have a vital stake in commercial aviation made certain recommendations which led to the formation of a task force and a broad undertaking involving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), industry and international organizations to insure continued airworthiness of aging airplanes. At the same time, significant research and development programs were initiated by the FAA and NASA to complement the broader effort. In view of the success of the 1988 conference, the FAA desired that conferences be held annually to disseminate information on the status of the task force's activities on aircraft certification and airline maintenance related issues and to offer a forum for participation by all interested parties. Thus, the 2nd International Conference was held in 1989 in Baltimore and the third in the series in 1990 in Bordeaux, France. Both of them, like the first conference, attracted rousing attendance and interest. Thus, the stage was set for organizing the 4th International Conference in 1991. By 1991, the FAA and NASA research programs were yielding significant results, a consideration that led to a larger segment of the 4th International Conference Program being devoted to presentations about the impact of the research on the other activities of the task group. Agreement had also been reached between the FAA and NASA to coordinate and integrate their respective program activities. Hence, NASA was co-opted as a sponsor of the conference. A group consisting of Mr. Stephen Erickson of the Air Transport Association of America, Mr. Jesse Lewis and Mr. Richard Johnson of the FAA, and Mr. Thomas Crooker of NASA was formed to organize the conference. The members of the group are owed special thanks for their efforts that ensured the success of the conference.
This paper highlights the accomplishments and plans of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the development of improved nondestructive evaluation (NDE) equipment, procedures, and training. The role of NDE in aircraft safety and the need for improvement are discussed. The FAA program participants, and coordination of activities within the program and with relevant organizations outside the program are also described.
The problems of Ageing Aircraft are worldwide. Hence, actions to overcome or prevent these problems should be taken in international collaboration. The Federal Aviation Administration FAA and the Netherlands Civil Aviation Department RLD have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the area of structural integrity, with specific reference to research on problems in the area of Ageing Aircraft. This paper gives an overview of the Research currently carried out on this subject in the Netherlands. The work described is largely done at the National Aerospace Laboratory NLR. The major part is done under contracts with RLD and the FAA, as part of forementioned cooperation agreement.
NASA technical paper reports on 5-year study, conducted jointly by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA, of runway friction under wide variety of conditions. Study conducted to satisfy need for information on runways becoming slippery because of various forms and types of contaminants.
The Fourth Combined Manufacturers' and Technologists' Conference was hosted jointly by NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 14-16, 1992. The meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Roland Bowles of LaRC and Bob Passman of the FAA. The purpose of the meeting was to transfer significant ongoing results of the NASA/FAA Joint Airborne Wind Shear Program to the technical industry and to pose problems of current concern to the combined group. It also provided a forum for manufacturers to review forward-look technology concepts and for technologists to gain an understanding of the problems encountered by the manufacturers during the development of airborne equipment and the FAA certification requirements. The present document has been compiled to record the essence of the technology updates and discussions which follow each.
In response to the initiatives to streamline, not to mention comply with the Public Law for Non-Developmental Item Preference, the Department of Defense (DOD) has increased its use of commercial products. The Air Force has, over the past 15 years, been adapting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified aircraft to perform many of its airlift and training missions. Counting the T-1A Jayhawk Trainer (Beechjet 400), in excess of 500 total aircraft, covering 15 different types, will have been procured since 1978. Needless to say, significant reform of the "classical" DOD and Air Force way of doing business has been necessary. Major strides have been made by the Transport Directorate of the Aircraft Program Office in the area of test and evaluation, with integrated qualification and operational testing (QT &E/QOT &E) and airworthiness certification testing by the FAA. As well, significant changes in contracting practices and the use of commercial (vice military) specifications for qualification criteria have been realized. This paper will relate some of these significant strides in "commercializing" and streamlining the DOD acquisition and test and evaluation processes. Additionally, it will review both regulatory changes made and recommended. It concludes with a compilation of lessons learned and recommendations for further streamlining of the DOD processes.
Avionic systems performing critical functions in modern aircraft are potentially susceptible to the hazards of electromagnetic radiation from ground and airborne transmitters. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requested that the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) coordinate the development of procedures and guidance material which can be used during the aircraft certification process to ensure adequate protection against high intensity radiated fields (HIRF). This paper addresses both the technical challenge of drafting a certification procedure and guidance standard as well as the management process used by the SAE subcommittee AE4R to converge a diverse range of opinions by its international membership in the shortest possible time.
This document contains a description of a comprehensive database that is to be used for certification testing of airborne forward-look windshear detection systems. The database was developed by NASA Langley Research Center, at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to support the industry initiative to certify and produce forward-look windshear detection equipment. The database contains high resolution, three dimensional fields for meteorological variables that may be sensed by forward-looking systems. The database is made up of seven case studies which have been generated by the Terminal Area Simulation System, a state-of-the-art numerical system for the realistic modeling of windshear phenomena. The selected cases represent a wide spectrum of windshear events. General descriptions and figures from each of the case studies are included, as well as equations for F-factor, radar-reflectivity factor, and rainfall rate. The document also describes scenarios and paths through the data sets, jointly developed by NASA and the FAA, to meet FAA certification testing objectives. Instructions for reading and verifying the data from tape are included.
The Aviation Weather Program (AWP) combines additional weather observations, improved forecast technology, and more efficient distribution of information to pilots, controllers, and automated systems to improve the weather information provided to the air traffic control system, pilots, and other users of aviation weather information. Specific objectives include the needs to: improve airport and en-route capacity by accurate, high resolution, timely forecasts of changing weather conditions affecting airport and en-route operations; improve analyses and forecasts of upper-level winds for efficient flight planning and traffic management; and increase flight safety through improved aviation weather hazard forecasting (e.g. icing, turbulence, severe storms, microbursts, or strong winds). The AWP would benefit from participation in a cooperative multiscale experiment by obtaining data for: evaluation of aviation weather forecast products, analysis of four dimensional data assimilation schemes, and experimental techniques for retrieving aerosol and other visibility parameters. A multiscale experiment would also be helpful to AWP by making it possible to evaluate the added benefit of enhanced data sets collected during the experiment on those forecast and analysis products. The goals of the Coperative Multiscale Experiment (CME) are an essential step in attaining the long-term AWP objective of providing two-to-four hour location-specific forecasts of significant weather. Although the possibility of a funding role for the AWP in the CME is presently unclear, modest involvement of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)/AWP personnel could be expected.
The maneuver control stability characteristics of an aircraft are a flying qualities parameter of critical importance, to ensure structural protection as well as adequate predictability to the pilot. Currently, however, maneuver stability characteristics are not uniquely addressed in the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 25, for transport aircraft. In past transport category certification programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has used a combination of requirements (longitudinal control, vibration and buffeting, high-speed characteristics, and out-of-trim characteristics) to ensure safe and controllable maneuver stability characteristics over a range of flight conditions and airplane configurations. Controversies exist regarding each of these regulations, however, and considerable expenditures in terms of design studies and testing time have resulted from the requirements. It is also recognized that additional engineering guidance is needed for identifying acceptable nonlinear maneuver stability characteristics, particularly as they relate to relaxed stability, highly augmented transport configurations. The current trend in large aircraft design is toward relaxed, or even negative, static margins for improved fuel efficiency. The advanced flight control systems developed for these aircraft, in many instances, have rendered current aforementioned maneuver stability criteria either too stringent or of little practical use. Current design requirements do not account for these advanced designs. The objective was to evaluate a broad spectrum of linear and nonlinear longitudinal stability characteristics to generate data for defining satisfactory and unacceptable maneuver characteristics, as defined by pilot opinion. Primary emphasis was placed on two techniques of varying column force per normal acceleration. This study was a joint venture with four pilots participating; one from NASA, one from the FAA, and two from industry.
The research results described here are intended to enhance the effectiveness of the DATALINK interface that is scheduled by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to be deployed during the 1990's to improve the safety of various aspects of aviation. While voice has a natural appeal as the preferred means of communication both among humans themselves and between humans and machines as the form of communication that people find most convenient, the complexity and flexibility of natural language are problematic, because of the confusions and misunderstandings that can arise as a result of ambiguity, unclear reference, intonation peculiarities, implicit inference, and presupposition. The DATALINK interface will avoid many of these problems by replacing voice with vision and speech with written instructions. This report describes results achieved to date on an on-going research effort to refine the protocol of the DATALINK system so as to avoid many of the linguistic problems that still remain in the visual mode. In particular, a working prototype DATALINK simulator system has been developed consisting of an unambiguous, context-free grammar and parser, based on the current air-traffic-control language and incorporated into a visual display involving simulated touch-screen buttons and three levels of menu screens. The system is written in the C programming language and runs on the Macintosh II computer. After reviewing work already done on the project, new tasks for further development are described.
Low-altitude windshear (LAWS) has been identified as a major hazard to aircraft, particularly during takeoff and landing. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been involved with developing technology to detect LAWS. A key element in this technology is high resolution pulse Doppler weather radar equipped with signal and data processing to provide timely information about possible hazardous conditions.
This paper presents the results of a NASA funded contract and Sikorsky research and development programs to evaluate structural composite components in flight service on Sikorsky Model S-76 helicopters. Selected components were removed and tested at prescribed intervals over a nine year time frame. Four horizontal stabilizers and thirteen tail rotor spars were returned from commercial service in West Palm Beach, Florida and in the Gulf Coast region of Louisiana to determine the long term effects of operations in hot and humid climates on component performance. Concurrent with the flight component evaluation, panels of materials used in their fabrication were exposed to the environment in ground racks. Selected panels were tested annually to determine the effects of exposure on physical and mechanical properties. The results of 55,741 component flight hours and 911 months of field exposure are reported and compared with initial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification data. The findings of this program have provided increased confidence in the long term durability of advanced composite materials used in helicopter structural applications.
The Fifth (and Final) Combined Manufacturers' and Technologists' Airborne Windshear Review Meeting was hosted jointly by the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Hampton, Virginia, on September 28-30, 1993. The purpose of the meeting was to report on the highly successful windshear experiments conducted by government, academic institutions, and industry; to transfer the results to regulators, manufacturers, and users; and to set initiatives for future aeronautics technology research. The formal sessions covered recent developments in windshear flight testing; windshear modeling, flight management, and ground-based systems; airborne windshear detection systems; certification and regulatory issues; development and applications of sensors for wake vortex detection; and synthetic and enhanced vision systems.
Described is an introduction to a comprehensive database that is to be used for certification testing of airborne forward-look windshear detection systems. The database was developed by NASA Langley Research Center, at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to support the industry initiative to certify and produce forward-looking windshear detection equipment. The database contains high-resolution three-dimensional fields for meteorological variables that may be sensed by forward-looking systems. The database is made up of seven case studies that are generated by the Terminal Area Simulation System, a state-of-the-art numerical system for the realistic modeling of windshear phenomena. The selected cases contained in the certification documentation represent a wide spectrum of windshear events. The database will be used with vendor-developed sensor simulation software and vendor-collected ground-clutter data to demonstrate detection performance in a variety of meteorological conditions using NASA/FAA pre-defined path scenarios for each of the certification cases. A brief outline of the contents and sample plots from the database documentation are included. These plots show fields of hazard factor, or F-factor (Bowles 1990), radar reflectivity, and velocity vectors on a horizontal plane overlayed with the applicable certification paths. For the plot of the F-factor field the region of 0.105 and above signify an area of hazardous, performance decreasing windshear, while negative values indicate regions of performance increasing windshear. The values of F-factor are based on 1-Km averaged segments along horizontal flight paths, assuming an air speed of 150 knots (approx. 75 m/s). The database has been released to vendors participating in the certification process. The database and associated document have been transferred to the FAA for archival storage and distribution.