S&T Trends

Air Safety Week, May 26, 2008

RNP Test in China

A China Eastern Airlines (CEA) Next-Generation 737-700 completed a flight into China's Lijiang Airport on May 13 to validate the capability and benefits of Required Navigation Performance (RNP), which uses global-positioning satellites and onboard flight-management systems to guide airplanes along precise flight paths with pinpoint accuracy. RNP flight procedures provide operators an effective tool to enable safe and efficient operations in challenging terrain and weather conditions, such as those at Lijiang, in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. Advanced arrival procedures like RNP will allow airlines to significantly save on fuel and reduce flight delays by enabling airplanes to fly the most direct route to the runway. Boeing, Jeppesen, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and CEA have been working together to expand new air traffic routes in China using this sophisticated technology. The RNP arrival and departure procedures for Lijiang were designed by Jeppesen, a wholly-owned Boeing subsidiary. Previously, Boeing teamed with CAAC and Air China in 2004 in a successful RNP demonstration at Lhasa Gongga Airport, with three world firsts: first 757 RNP flight, first RNP flight at an airport with an elevation over 11,000 feet; and first RNP flight in Asia. Last year, Boeing in cooperation with China Eastern, CAAC and the FAA completed a 737-700 RNP flight into Linzhi Airport in Tibet.

Better Control of UAS

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is working with the Human Factors Lab of the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University to develop the software interface and validate the anthropometric and ergonomic design of an Advanced Cockpit Ground Control Station (GCS) for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that incorporate new pilot and sensor operator stations. The MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper UAS are used heavily by the USAF for surveillance and attack missions. Dr. Alex Chaparro, director of the Human Factors Lab, said "GA-ASI embarked on a company-funded program to improve the functionality and ease of operation of the many control functions in the GCS. As the capabilities of the system increased, they kept adding more things, and now the operator has multiple keyboards, multiple input devices and multiple displays to monitor, which increased operator workload. The Air Force is interested in having a new design that is going to make the interface easier to use and make the physical design better for the operators," he added. Following 14 months of Internal Research and Development (IRAD) redesign by GA- ASI and NIAR, the station was successfully demonstrated last July. The Air Force then offered GA-ASI a contract to complete product development over the next 19 months. The Advanced Cockpit GCS sets the standard with intuitive touch-screen technology, superior ergonomic design, and remarkable wide-screen video presentations that dramatically expand all visual cues provided to the pilot and sensor operator.

SatCom/Flight Following at HelicoptersNZ

SkyTrac has been selected to provide satellite communication (SatCom) and flight following systems to New Zealand's HelicoptersNZ, which operates a fleet of 39 aircraft comprising Bell 212, 412 and 206B JetRanger III models, a number of Eurocopter AS350 Squirrel models, and AgustaWestland AW139s in support of the offshore oil industry.

HelicoptersNZ operates in remote locations that are often outside the normal range of VHF ground stations. The company selected SkyTrac's satellite- based communications and flight following system so that, no matter where an aircraft is operating, its position is tracked with accuracy and voice and text communication links are always available.

NTSB Deploys System to Analyze Aviation Safety Data

The National Transportation Safety Board has acquired the text mining tool PolyAnalyst from Megaputer Intelligence, allowing NTSB analysts to better determine patterns and trends of safety issues, as well as probable causes of transportation incidents and accidents, through automated analysis of huge collections of incident reports. A typical report includes several dozen structured attributes and an associated free text narrative. PolyAnalyst carries out joint analysis of text and structured data, thereby enabling users to identify and visualize patterns and trends hidden in the data. Megaputer Intelligence (www.megaputer.com) is a leading developer of data and text mining software offering tools for predictive modeling and knowledge discovery in large volumes of structured data and text. Megaputer analytical tools enable over 500 customers worldwide to make informed data-driven decisions.

Sikorsky Aircraft Develops Enhanced Rotor Blades

Sikorsky Aircraft and the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) will develop a new, integrated solution for enhanced helicopter rotor durability and capability. Under the $11.4 million, 42-month program, Sikorsky will research and provide a solution that increases rotor blade life in erosive environments, provides a reliable and maintainable ice protection system, and includes an improved methodology for assessing and repairing battle damage. Sikorsky has teamed with the United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) to investigate potential solutions for increasing blade erosion resistance. Other team members include SANOVA, Ross Technology Corp., South West Research Institute, BAE Systems, Integran, Engineering Consulting Services, and the Army Research Laboratory. Most of the work will occur at Sikorsky's headquarters with support at UTRC's test facility in East Hartford, CT.