High-tech gizmos propel aviation into the future

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High-tech gizmos propel aviation into the future
Target: Improved navigation and communications
By Alan Levin
USA TODAY

DANVILLE, Va. - The future of aviation went on display here this week, and
it's not afraid to talk back to pilots.

The robot copilot, which listens to voice commands and calls out warnings
when pilots make mistakes, is one of dozens of high-tech innovations that
seem to leap from the pages of a science-fiction novel.

NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration hope a wide range of devices
like this will someday guide planes and prevent a new class of small,
inexpensive jets from clogging the aviation system.

At least in the skies over this quiet regional airport, that future is not
too far off and not so far-fetched.

In a demonstration Monday, six planes landed in rapid succession to simulate
how new technologies will speed flights into small airports during poor
weather.

Using devices that precisely track other nearby aircraft, give pilots a view
of the ground regardless of the weather, send e-mail-like communications and
look more like computer games than traditional cockpits, they touched down
in the time it would normally take to land a single flight under current
aviation rules.

"We are on the cusp of seeing the same revolution we saw with the Internet,"
says FAA Administrator Marion Blakey.

For Edwin Tirona, CEO of a small software company trying to develop new
computerized cockpits, it's more about turning a children's cartoon into
reality.

"This is the Jetsons," Tirona said, standing before a prototype of a cockpit
instrument panel made entirely of a 4-foot-wide computer screen. "You want
to get into a vehicle, push a button and go where you want to go. This is a
step toward that."

This effort by government officials and entrepreneurs like Tirona was born
from the expected growth in so-called microjets. The small planes will hold
up to six passengers, fly hundreds of miles an hour and be far more
affordable than the corporate jets of today.

Companies such as Eclipse Aviation and Adam Aircraft have already developed
the jets and expect to begin selling them as soon as next year. Brazilian
jet manufacturer Embraer says it also will produce a small, affordable jet,
likely to sell for about $1.5 million to $2.5 million.

The FAA predicted this spring that 4,500 microjets will be flying by 2016.
NASA says it will be even higher. It estimates the market at more than 8,000
by 2010.

Already, the advent of the affordable planes has spawned the formation of
small airlines. DayJet Corp., based in Delray Beach, Fla., has ordered 310
Eclipse 500s, expected to be the first such jet on the market. DayJet plans
to fly charter flights for passengers outside major metro areas who want the
speed of air travel without the hassles of large airports.

But even as companies such as DayJet cheer the arrival of microjets, federal
aviation officials worry that the already-overburdened air traffic system
may not be able to handle them.

An FAA computer simulation last year predicted that flight delays would
climb more than 300% by 2010 if microjets arrived as expected and the agency
made no improvements, said its author, FAA mathematician Doug Baart.

That's where NASA's effort, known as the Small Aircraft Transportation
System research project, comes in. Among the technologies demonstrated this
week or under development:

..The Cockpit Associate, a robot of sorts that anticipates a pilot's needs.

A small computer keeps tabs on the flight and automatically produces maps,
weather information and advice about the best routes, says Cyle Snyder of
Applied Systems Intelligence, the company developing the system. The
computer can recognize a pilot's voice and respond to commands.

Such a computer may be able to make flights with one pilot as safe as with
two pilots.

..Synthetic vision, which uses computers to show pilots what the ground
beneath them looks like.

The explosion in computer power in recent years has made it possible for
laptop-size computers to display every hill and valley in the world. Giving
pilots a view of the ground would allow them to fly safely in bad weather
and at night.

..An Internet in the sky.

Many companies are developing systems based on the simplicity of e-mail and
Web browsers for planes.

In Monday's demonstration, for example, planes sent an electronic message to
a computer on the runway. The computer on the ground then instructed pilots
when they were to land.

Other systems under development would allow pilots to communicate with
controllers in text messages. Text messages are more precise and don't clog
precious radio frequencies. If planes could link to computer networks on the
ground, pilots could also obtain better weather information.

"This is really a spark of creativity within NASA in the area of general
aviation," says John Hansman, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology who advises NASA, the FAA and private companies about aviation.

At least some of the work coincides with long-range efforts to improve
efficiency of airline flights as well, Hansman says. For example, jets could
travel across country more efficiently if pilots could guide themselves
instead of having to rely on the massive network of air traffic controllers
on the ground.

On Monday, NASA demonstrated just such technology for the small planes that
landed here. The planes contained a device that allowed pilots to track the
paths of other aircraft in the area, which allowed them to fly safely
separated from each other without the help of controllers.

But Hansman and others caution that it could be years before such
technologies become approved by the FAA for widespread use.

"I see this as a very interesting demonstration of potential," Hansman says.
"It's not going to suddenly change what's happening on airliners."

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