Contents
FLEET IMPROVEMENT
---Regional jets will reduce use of major airline airports
---RNAV will give direct routes to smaller pairs of cities
---500 passenger aircraft are on their way to reduce number of aircraft
---Faster aircraft are on their way to take hours off longer routes
ELECTRONIC FLIGHT BAG (EFB)
---Everything needed in the cockpit into a computer on the panel
---EFB holds all charts and maps and can print them out
---ADS-B or automatic dependent surveillance broadcast will be in every cockpit
---ADS-B will replace radar giving ATC and pilots everything about every body and thing
---For now, having EFB today still requires that aircraft have traditional avionics as well
---Three Classes of EFBs
---Class I are completely portable uses bracket with Supplemental Type Certificate (STC)
---Cannot replace any installed avionics (And therein lies a problem)
---Class II needs logbook entry to remove from aircraft
---Class II is interactive, may show charts but needs Principal Operations Inspector approval
---Class II needs approval for power from aircraft, use of datalink and crash worthiness of mount
---Class III EFB are built in under STC, displays charts, uses GPS and Flight Management System
---Class III displays other aircraft movement, terrain, charts and weather in one moving map display
---No EFB takes the place of anything required by regulations (BUT IT WILL)
INCREASING CAPACITY AND SAFETY
---Safe flight is still the primary function of ATC
---Number of aircraft operations are expected to increase 30% from 2005 to 2015
---Capacity must be increased to manage this increase and future growth
INCREASING THE DEPARTURE/ARRIVAL RATE
---Only a few routes and airports are the choke points for isolated hours each day
---Removal of these peak demands will solve the problem
MORE RUNWAYS
---Major hubs grew like Topsey and redesign can fix the problems for a price, time, impact and risk
---Resistance to airports is wide and for varied reasons over 350 steps are required for one runway
---Runways cost 100 million low end and 1 billion high end and funds are always hard to get
---FAA's Runway Template Action Plan to help
SURFACE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
---Surface Management System (SMS) is directed toward automation to foretell departure demands
---SMS gives real time surveillance and air carrier plans to aid ATC to direct ground traffic
---SMS advises Miles in Trail (MIT) and Expected Departure Clearance Times (EDCTs)
---SMS transmits its display to Airline Operations Centers (AOCs) and ATC System Command Centers (ATCSCCs)
---NASA has given the FAA the SMS to work on arrival/departure efficiency
---Surface Movement Advisor (SMA) uses Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS) data to help airlines work touchdown time into ramp and gate availability
TERMINAL AIRSPACE REDESIGN
---Intent is to fill in flow of arrival and departure streams
---Traffic Management Advisor is electronics the sequences arriving traffic limited to one ARTCC
---Multi-center Traffic Management Advisor (McTMA) is under development
---Active Final Approach Spacing Tool (aFAST) is for TRACON use and helps ATC
---Airlines will being flying lower to avoid weather and traffic delay
---Tactical Altitude Assignment Program for airports 2-400 NM apart
---Some changes in traffic patterns are to be made
---Four Corner Post Program use separated navaids for arrival ‘feeds' departures fly in between
---Use of RNAV will give more routes without navaids to reduce congestion
SEPARATION STANDARDS
---Now 3 NM separation is required inside 40NM of navaid, 1000'vertical approved 2005
---Changes in terminal areas, multiple airports one tower, other consolidations
---Technology will bring more improvements
MAINTAINING RUNWAY USE IN REDUCED VISIBILITY
LAAS AND WAAS IMPLEMENTATION
---Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) as of 2003 and (LAAS) as of 2005
---More accurate position information to controllers and ATC using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)
---Displays warn of conflicts and traffic avoidance with pilot use of TCAS
---Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B) uses data-link and transponder together
---Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) uses ADS-B between aircraft air and ground
PRECISION RUNWAY MONITOR
---2005 radar gives 50-second refreshment Precision Runway Monitor (PRM) every second
---PRM can separate at 60' at a distance of 32 NM
---With training PRM use of close together parallel runways uses two tower frequencies
OFFSET FINAL APPROACH PATH
---Simultaneous Offset Instrument Approaches (SOIA)
---Works in IFR with 750' runway separation one straight-in is ILS, other angles away is a localizer.
---Angles tend to increase separation
REDUCING EN ROUTE CONGESTION
---Find the choke points where ever they exist and eliminate them
MATCHING AIRSPACE DESIGN TO DEMANDS
---Creation of RNAV Routes save time and fuel
---Moving maps will suppress irrelevant information while insuring needed information
REDUCING VOICE COMMUNICATION
---Weakness of voice communications lies in misunderstanding or not understanding
---Abbreviation and shorting of communications can cause unexpected problems of understanding
---Data-link between ATC and aircraft can give printed instructions to pilot and printed reply to ATC
---Reduction of voice transfer information reduces frequency congestion and he said/you said conflict
---Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC) is a way to communicate one click sentences
AIRCRAFT COMMUNICATIONS ADDRESSING AND REPORTING SYSTEM
---Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) is commercial system
---ACARS used to give flight status, weather, manifests and destination (ATIS) info
---Present best system is Aircraft to Satellite Data Relay (ASDAR) and ACARS above
---ACARS used with Digital ATIS (D-ATIS) can give valuable weather data as well (no balloons?)
---ACARS can (will) replace PIREPS and ATIS as a printout
---57 airports using D-ATIS have Pre-Departure Clearance (PDC) capability
AUTOMATIC DEPENDENT SURVEILLANCE-BROADCAST (ADS-B)
---Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast is traffic technology using Mode S transmissions
---ADS-B transmits to ATC and equipped aircraft position, identification and immediate intentions
---ADS-B is more accurate than TCAS and does not have any of the TCAS problems
---ADS-B will allow datalink messages between aircraft terrain data base information of obstacles
---Picture in cockpit is equal to that of ATC using satellite and better than with radar (good-bye radar)
MODE S EXTENDED SQUITTER
---Mode S transponder is also a GPS frequency squitter that spits out your identification and position
---Mode S is being considered as a part of ADS-B
REDUCING VERTICAL SEPARATION
---In January 2005 vertical separation between altitudes from 29,000 to 41,000 are 1000' over USA
---Aircraft and Pilot must be qualified for Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums
---Expect other altitudes to follow
REDUCING HORIZONTAL SEPARATION
---Due to GPS and CPDLC technology horizontal and vertical separations oceanic are being reduced
---More aircraft will be able to fly using favorable winds using CPDLC ADS-B and RNP 4
DIRECT ROUTING
---Great savings possible by advising airplanes of expected routing initiatives to reduce congestion
---Free flight will increase system capacity, efficiency and safety
---Free Flight uses
PRESENT POSITION (PPOS) DIRECT ROUTING
---User Request and Evaluation Tool (URET) to predict future situations
---Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) lets ATC to plan arrival sequence for large airports
---Collaborative Decision-Making (CDM) real-time data, weather, facilities, delay and trouble spots
---CDM will help eliminate aircraft and passenger delays by improving airport operations
---Passive Final Approach Spacing Tool (pFAST) at TRACONs will sequence and assign runways
---Active Final Approach Spacing Tool (aFAST) will coordinate more than one ARTCCs
---Surface Movement Advisor (SMA) improves airports by sharing airline and FAA information
ACCOMMODATING USER PREFERRED ROUTING
---Free flight phase 2 uses phase 1 added to facilities having collaborative decision making (CDM)
---CDM added to Collaborative Routing Coordination Tool Enhancements (CRCTE) and Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) completes Phase 2
---CDM allows sharing of information but National Airspace System Status Information (NASSI) tool is the latest version of CDM enabling real-time sharing
---NASSI currently has information of airport maintenance status and runway visual range at 30 airports
---The Collaborative Routing Coordination Tool (CRCT) is an automated tracking system to evaluate the impact of traffic flow management re-routing strategies.
---The point of this tool is management of en route congestion
WHY DIDN'T THEY SAY SO IN THE FIRST PLACE. The preceding nine lines make no sense at all.
IMPROVING ACCESS TO SPECIAL USE AIRSPACE (SUA)
---Special Use Airspace (SUA) is prohibited, restricted, warning, alert and Military Operations Areas, controlled firing areas and national security areas.
---Military Airspace Management System (MAMS) keeps database of past use, schedules of activity
---MAMs sends its data to the Special Use Airspace Management System (SAMS)
---Prototype called SUA in-flight enhancement (SUA/ISE) gives near real-time to AFSS specialists
---"SUZY" displays VFR flight plan routes, active SUA and weather to ATC and cockpit
---Info is from Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS) with Combined Graphic Display (CGD)
---Central Altitude Reservation Function (CARF) coordinates military, war pllans and national security use of national airspace---Special Airspace Management System (SAMS) cares for fixed and charted SUA, CARF keeps track of all other situations of military use of the NAS
---Civilian use of offshore warning areas in bad weather can only be by using FAA waypoint routes
HANDLING EN ROUTE SEVERE WEATHER
---Color graphics show weather better than words
---Graphical Weather Service (GWS) is colored mosaic displayed in the cockpit
---Other systems will display the weather on the moving map display
DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY
---Head-up display puts airspeed, altitude, heading and attitude on the aircraft window
---Collimators make the window display appear far away
---New displays are called, "Head-up Guidance Systems (HGS) and have holographic displays
Since a large fraction of aircraft accidents are due to poor visibility we find synthetic vision coming so that you can see through haze, clouds, fog, rain, snow, dust or smoke
---Synthetic vision uses GPS to give accurate three-dimensional location from which onboard databases provide detained information of everything you need to know where you are and where to go.
---Synthetic vision can be displayed as Head-Down Display (HDD) or as head-up Guidance System (HGS)
---Next is the Highway in the Sky or (HITS) which is a flight path depiction displayed on the panel or window
---HITS replaces all usual instrumentation such as AI, HIS, TC, IAS, altimeter, VSI and navigation indicator
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WAAS STATUS and LPV Q&As
QUESTION 1
:
Is WAAS developmental work complete?
WAAS development work will be complete at
the end of 2008, when the Full-LPV Performance
(FLP) upgrade is completed. The FLP upgrade adds
13 additional wide-area reference stations
(WRS), two replacement geostationary satellite
s (GEO), an additional WAAS master station
(WMS), and various software releases to in
tegrate the new infrastructure and improve
performance. After 2008, WAAS
will revert to system sustainment and technical refresh
activities while focusing more on proce
dure development and user avionics.
QUESTION 2
:
Please provide a succinct explanation of the different WAAS approach
procedures. What's the difference betw
een GPAS NPA (LNAV)
, LNAV/VNAV and LPVs
(are there other types of approach)? Also, what do these acronyms stand for?
GPS NPA (LNAV) refers to a Non-Precision Appro
ach (NPA) procedure which uses GPS and/or
WAAS for Lateral Navigation (LNAV). On an
LNAV approach, the pilot flies the final
approach lateral course, but does
not receive vertical guidance
for a controlled descent to the
runway. Instead, when the aircraft reaches th
e final approach fix, the pilot descends to a
minimum descent altitude using the barometric
altimeter. LNAV approaches are less precise
(556m lateral limit) and therefore
usually do not allow the pilot to
descend to as low an altitude
above the runway. Typically, LNAV procedures
achieve a minimum descent altitude (MDA) of
400 feet height above the runway.
LNAV/VNAV (Lateral Naviga
tion / Vertical Naviga
tion) approaches use
lateral guidance (556m
lateral limit) from GPS and/or WAAS and vertic
al guidance provided by either the barometric
altimeter or WAAS. Aircraft th
at don't use WAAS for the vert
ical guidance portion must have
VNAV-capable altimeters, which are
typically part of a flight ma
nagement system (FMS). FMS
avionics are more expensive than WAAS r
eceivers. When the pilot flies an LNAV/VNAV
approach lateral and vertical guid
ance is provided to fly a controlled descent, a safer maneuver,
to the runway. The decision altitudes on these
approaches are usually 350 feet above the
runway.
LPV (Localizer Performance with Vertical gu
idance) is similar to LNAV/VNAV except it is
much more precise (40m lateral limit), enable
s descent to 200-250 feet
above the runway, and
can only be flown with a WAAS receiver. LPV
approaches are operationa
lly equivalent to the
legacy instrument landing systems (ILS) but
are more economical because no navigation
infrastructure has to be instal
led at the runway. There are ove
r 675 LPV approaches in use today
and the FAA is publishing 300 new LPV approaches per year.
LP (Localizer Performance) is a future NPA pro
cedure that uses the high
precision of LPV for
lateral guidance and barometric altimeter for verti
cal guidance. These approaches are needed at
runways where due to obstacles or
other infrastructure limitations,
a vertically guided approach
(LPV or LNAV/VNAV) can not be published. LP
approaches can only be flown by aircraft
equipped with WAAS receivers. Th
e minimum descent altitude for
the LP approach is expected
to be approximately 300 feet above the runway.
The figure below depicts a typical published LPV
approach procedure that the pilot refers to
while flying the aircraft.
The title denotes the
approach as an area
navigation (RNAV)
procedure. Notice that
each RNAV procedure
typically includes three of
the approach types
previously described.
This is done to ensure as
many aircraft as possible,
of different types and
equipage, can fly the
approach and to provide
operational flexibility if
WAAS becomes
unavailable. Some
aircraft may only be
equipped with GPS
receivers so they can fly
to the LNAV decision
altitude. Aircraft
equipped with GPS and
FMS can fly to the
LNAV/VNAV decision
altitude. WAAS equipped
aircraft can fly to any of
the decision altitudes. If
for some reason the
WAAS service becomes
unavailable, all GPS or
WAAS equipped aircraft
could revert to the LNAV
decision altitude and land
safely using GPS-only.
QUESTION 3
:
How many WAAS procedures does
the plan ultimately require?
The current FAA goal in the WAAS business
case calls for approximately of 8900 WAAS
procedures. This number coincide
s with all of the available public
use runways, IFR and VFR in
the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) that are
at least 3200 feet in le
ngth. We continue to
assess the available runways that do not have publ
ished approaches each year to establish the
priority locations for the
following year production goals.
QUESTION 4
:
Do you have a "waterfall"/timelin
e regarding when and where WAAS
approach procedures are supposed to be roll
ed out? Also, how has this deployment
schedule changed over time, has there been slippage?
Response:
The FAA flight plan goal requ
ires 300 WAAS procedures
to be published in FY2007.
In FY2006 over 350 LPV procedures were published.
The OMB-300 goal requires 300 LPVs at Non-ILS Runways
In FY2006, 287 LPVs were published at Non-ILS R
unways. The goal was missed due to a lack
of obstacle data for non-ILS runways, caused by
an inadequate number surveys conducted in
FY2005, due to lack of funding.
As of January 2007, th
ere are a total of:
•
675 LPV,
•
2942 LNAV,
•
1057 LNAV/VNAV procedures published.
The FAA maintains a web site which provides the
production plan for future WAAS procedures
over a five year window. It is available onl
ine at: http://avnweb.jccb
i.gov/schedule/production
QUESTION 5
:
Can you succinctly break down the m
echanics/steps in implementing a
WAAS procedure and explain each step in th
e process (e.g. site survey, publication in the
Federal Register etc.)?
The following addresses the major steps associat
ed with the various FAA offices and their
responsibilities:
Procedure Request
: The first step in the procedure development process is the request for the
procedure. This request can be made by vi
rtually anyone associated with the proposed
procedure. It can be a user, airport manager, or
region. Coordination in th
is phase is critical and
all potential sponsors should coor
dinate their procedure requests
through the airport manager,
airport officials, and State aviation representative
. The request is to be initiated by completing a
request form online and contacting the appr
opriate Flight Procedures Office.
Regional Airspace Procedures
Team (RAPT) Coordination:
The request is forwarded to the
RAPT for their assessment and coordination.
The RAPT reviews the procedure request for
complete and accurate data. If necessary the pro
cedure request may be returned to the requestor
for additional data. An example of data
requirements are airpor
t layout plan, airport
terrain/obstruction survey
1
, lighting and weather facilitie
s, communications facilities,
environmental considerations, and airport owne
r concurrence. The RAPT determines the
priority of the procedure based on guide
lines contained in FAA Order 8260.43, Flight
Procedures Management Program. If everything
is in order the package is forwarded to the
National Flight Procedures Group (NFPG).
1. Production of LPV approaches requires an ob
struction survey, if obs
truction data for the
runway does not exist. WAAS has funded surveys to
ensure sufficient obstru
ction data exists to
meet the FAA goal to provide 300 LPV appro
aches per year. Typically, 450 surveys are
required to obtain 300 qualifying runways for LPV
procedures. In order to meet the goal to
produce 300 LPVs in any year, approximately 450 su
rveys will need to be
planned and funded in
the previous year to ensure th
e obstruction data is available
for the FAA procedure designers.
Procedure Development:
The request is assigned to a specialist who evaluates it for
layout/design. The findings are coordinated with
the appropriate air tra
ffic control facility.
Airspace actions, spectrum analysis, and unique safe
ty considerations are processed as required.
After the IAP is designed it is forwarded to quali
ty assurance for evaluation. The IAP is then
finalized and forwarded to the Fl
ight Inspection Central Operations
(FICO) to be flight checked.
Flight Inspection:
The FICO schedules the approach fo
r commissioning at the first opportunity
based on priority of other facil
ities and approaches. The flight
inspection crew evaluates the
procedure in accordance with FAA Order 8200.1, U.S.
Standard Flight Inspection Manual. If
changes are required the approach is returned to
the procedure specialist for correction. If not,
the approach is returned to the NFPG where it is transmitted to the National Aeronautical
Charting Group (NACG) and National
Flight Data Center (NFDC).
Publication:
NFDC publishes the approach in the
Federal Register and NACG initiates the
graphical design. Following design completion, th
e approach is published on the first 56 day
cycle available. NACG also prin
ts and distributes the approach.
QUESTION 6
:
About how long does it take to
complete/publish an individual WAAS
procedure from start to finish?
There are many factors involved in procedure de
velopment, such as airport infrastructure
requirements, adequate airport and obstacle
data, environmental concerns, and general
coordination. The internal process for pr
ocedure production is 18 months from start to
publication. However, that is based on all require
d information (including airfield and obstacle
surveys) being complete. If an obstruction surv
ey must be obtained, the time increases to two
years.
QUESTION 7
:
Regarding avionics equipage: Ho
w many aircraft are currently WAAS
equipped?
Approximately 4,200 aircraft are WAAS equipped to da
te. We expect this number to increase as
new avionics, avionics upgrades and WAAS enable
d procedures become increasingly available.
On November 2006, Garmin International annou
nced that a WAAS upgrade to their popular
400/500 series receivers would be available for
$1500 starting in January 2007. To date, Garmin
has sold approximately 75,000 of these receivers wh
ich would be eligible for upgrade. At this
time, we do not know how many receivers have been upgraded.
QUESTION 8: According to your business
case, how many aircraft must be equipped to
make the investment worthwhile?
Our current business case assumed 100 percent
of Air Taxi aircraft and IFR rated general
aviation aircraft are equipped by 2016 and Air Carri
er equipage at 25%. This will allow the
reduction of existing infrastructure.
QUESTION 9: Does FAA have a timeline or
various milestones for when FAA would like
to see aircraft equipped (e.g. "x" number of ai
rcraft should ideally be WAAS equipped by
"y" date)?
Based on 500 aircraft equipping with WAAS each year, the break-even year is 2019 (per the
current RPD), however, we expect the equipage
rate to accelerate as more WAAS-enabled
procedures become available; for example, Ga
rmin alone is currently producing ~300 WAAS
capable receivers per
month.
QUESTION 10: Will there be
a negative impact of the 2007 CR,
such as that it might slow
down the deployment of approach procedures.
Can you give me a little more elaboration
on the negative consequences?
Under current guidance, the
FY2007 Continuing Resolution rest
ricts WAAS funding to the
FY2006 appropriation of $92.1M. The FY2007 request was $122.4M so the CR results in a
$30.3M reduction to the program. Our current plan
is to shift priorities
to "must do" activities
such as completing the system upgrades alrea
dy under contract to limit
more costly schedule
slips. This will result in reduction or elimina
tion of funding for obstacle surveys, avionics, lower
priority development activity, and technical support
that will result in an
overall slip to the
program. Due to the survey work accomplished in
prior years, we still ex
pect to meet the FAA
goal to produce 300 LPV approaches in FY2007.
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