Study Due Next Year Looking At Supersonic Aircraft In The
System
Wyle is taking a significant role
in a NASA study due out early next year that will provide valuable
insights into how the U.S. National Airspace System will be
transformed by new types of aircraft, and new air traffic control
operational concepts by the end of the next decade.
"The study will provide an understanding of how new-generation
supersonic aircraft can be operated without causing adverse
environmental impacts," said Jawad Rachami, Wyle's manager of
program development for its research and consulting unit.
"The results will also make a significant contribution to the
modeling of environmental interdependencies of system-wide aircraft
operations and enable a good understanding of the scope of the
environmental improvements that are achievable through the
introduction of new aircraft technologies into the National
Airspace System."
Wyle is conducting system-level
environmental assessments for the NASA study, led by Raytheon, to
introduce advanced vehicles and concepts into the National Airspace
System as planned under the Next Generation Air Transportation
System, (NextGen) concept of operations.
The study represents a comprehensive effort to explore tradeoffs
among procedures, vehicle characteristics and overall NextGen
performance for new vehicle classes including very light jets,
supersonic business jets, super heavy aircraft and unmanned aerial
systems.
NextGen aims to modernize the airspace system through the
introduction of advanced automation and operational concepts
including super density operations and trajectory-based operations.
In addition to these advanced concepts, the aviation industry is
also expecting the introduction of new vehicle types and classes to
enter into service between 2012 and 2025. These new aircraft
technologies are being designed to meet stringent new goals for
reduced noise and emissions, and decreased fuel burn.
Wyle is using advanced environmental tools, including the FAA's
Aviation Environmental Design Tool and NASA's PCBoom model, to
conduct noise, sonic boom, emissions, and fuel burn analyses for
several NextGen scenarios. These analyses include the assessment of
tradeoffs between the environmental impacts (noise and emissions)
and operation performance (capacity and fuel burn).
"The study involves a series of complex tasks due to its focus
on future National Airspace System conditions complete with new
vehicles and new procedures," said Rachami. "The results of this
study will provide valuable insights into the issues associated
with a National Airspace System transformed by new aircraft and new
operational concepts. It will also serve as a valuable guide for
the identification of future research needed for aviation to reduce
its overall environmental footprint."
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