A PERSONAL PLANE AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM Claude Le Tallec, ONERA, France Joint EU – US Workshop on Small Aircraft and Personal Planes Systems "How to Prepare the Future" 24th October 2012, Place Rogier, Brussels Project Funded by the EC under FP7 Framework

Where does PPlane fit in the Air Transport System? Airliner Commuter A/C Vehicle Size Business Jet VLJ PAV Todays Common Air Transportation Systems Future Extension Long Term Timeline

What is PPlane? PPlane is a research project funded by the European Commission with the aim of defining a viable Personal Air Transport System of the future (2030 and beyond) PPlane has the following characteristics: Fully automated transport enabling a “regular Joe” to use the aircraft without any prior expertise Fly in various weather conditions “Push button” navigation including the integration into the airspace Aircraft is part of a “system” enabling the “user” to manage his flight: Set flight destination Monitor the flight from take-off to landing Gets help and information from the ground, when and if needed, including emergencies Aircraft operation is Safe and Secure

PPlane Partners French Aerospace Lab ONERA France 5 RC 4 Universities 3 SME 1 Industry French Aerospace Lab ONERA France Israel Aerospace Industries IAI Israel Airnet AIR Slovenia Bologna University UNIBO Italy Brno University BUT Czech Rep. CIRA CIRA Italy Intergam Communications Ltd. ITG Israel Warsaw University of Technology WUT Poland AT-One, German Aerospace Center DLR Germany Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial INTA Spain AT-One, National Aerospace Laboratory NLR Netherlands University of Patras PAT Greece REA-TECH Engineering and Architect Ltd. REA Hungary

PPlane Overall Methodology Recommended features/ technologies Needed systems specifications Delphi Survey HoQ Tier 1 HoQ Tier 2 Customer needs Prioritized systems specifications Priorities for scenarios Prioritized spec Scenarios processed and rated Most promising scenarios and aircraft characteristics PPlane team WP 2 to 5 Selection / ranking with HoQ to get them Go deeper in the definition of the system components Consider selected vehicles Specific features for turbulence Detailed aerodynamic calculation Refinement of vehicle concepts Pressurized De-iced….. Ideas for the design of operational concepts Engineering Design of scenarios (OpCo + vehicles)

PPlane “Roadable” Issue Weight, safety and social acceptance Roadable vehicle Non roadable vehicle

Potential Concepts of PPlane Vehicles 7 3 1 2 5 4 6 8 European « Out of the box » study

PPlane Air Vehicle Cabin/Cockpit Layout Too complex for a regular Joe

PPlane System Architecture ATC: Air Traffic Control RPS: Remote Pilot Station

Human Factors Team Findings PPlane transportation system should be used by a 'regular Joe': no specific competency nor training should be required from the PPlane occupants Only passengers on board - pilot on the ground (GP) PPlane passenger will have to be confident and more independent than passengers from current commercial flights A pre flight briefing will be required (emergency procedures) A short simulation trial could be envisaged (actual PPlane in a simulated mode) for familiarisation and acceptance checking before the actual flight In flight, information is required including voice communication with ground PPlane Ground Pilot (GP) should have a specific license and type rating Human factors issues are important in the PPlane and on ground

Security Team Findings Three main targets: Protecting the passengers and aircraft from attack Difficult to get the same protection as for conventional airlines using “secure” airports PPlane less attractive than large airliners for any terrorism actions Short range Low number of passengers Protecting the aircraft from being used for unlawful acts Low mass and speed resulting in limited kinetic energy Low fuel capacity Limited payload capability Protecting PPports from illegal intruders Actions to improve security level were described for Czech Rep. (based on existing GA airports) Command and control data link critical

Safety Team Findings On board human actions to be kept to a minimum Flight and Flight Control System (FCS) – Need to develop new type of highly reliable FCS and autopilot Design of FCS system could be based on existing designs for higher category aircraft Emergency management New systems and procedures have to be developed Navigation 4D contract managed at the PPlane system level Propulsion Multiple engine recommended (or low failure rate for electric engines?) On board human actions to be kept to a minimum More automation: manufacturer liability? Pilot still “on the loop”: how much? liability?

Environment Team Findings Emissions: Emissions of NOX, CO, CO2 and H2O with combustion engines No direct emission with electric engines Noise Engine: nearly no noise for electric engine, significant noise for combustion engines Propeller: used with both types of engine Perceived nuisance by population 4D contracts will enable optimized flight path Global efficiency PPlane may exist only if electric propulsion becomes viable for such air vehicles

Automation and Control Team Findings A&C technologies have been investigated, leading to the following conclusions: On board 4D trajectory management: significant developments are still required, enabling acting not only on speed control but also on trajectory generation Separation management: automated Detect and avoid: new paradigm… Fault detection and identification: model-based FDI techniques (that need further development) should lower hardware redundancy needs Automatic take-off, landing and taxiing: GNSS based systems + vision based technologies still require further work Automation and functional allocation: complex issues to share functions between on-board automation, ground automation and humans Aid to piloting tools & remote pilot situation awareness: Back to HF issues More work is needed to reach sufficient automation safety levels

Automation in Aviation – 2012 U.S. Report Safety issue Unmanned aircraft systems current status (US congressional report, January 2012) Survey (Aerospace America, March 2011): in 2011, there are 680 different UAS programs world wide, up from 195 in 2005 USA unmanned aircraft inventory increased more than 40-fold from 2002 to 2010 In 2011, almost 1 in 3 U.S. warplanes is a Robot Global Hawk-class, Reaper and Predator-class UAS will grow from approximately 340 in FY 2012 to approximately 650 in FY 2021 The Predator has only 7.5 accidents per 100,000 hours of flight: down from 20 accidents over that time in 2005 comparable to a (manned) F-16 just under the 8.2 rate for small, single engine private airplanes flown in the U.S High automation has made significant progress on safety!

Air Traffic Management issues Conventional voice messages between Air Traffic Controllers and pilots are not an option any more. On board 4D trajectory management is required ATC monitoring of aircraft compliance to planned 4D trajectory remains a problem for safety and efficiency Conflict management Uncertainty in aircraft future positioning Latency in aircraft reaction to ATC instructions Self sense and avoid system not practicable: a 4D contract based, preplanned, Air Traffic Management is needed Need for a 4D contract based ATM

PPlane as an Element of a Multimodal Transport System PPlane is not a substitution to any transport means, it is one segment of a multi modal transport system Personal Rapid Transport (PRT)

PPort Concept #1 - Assisted Take-off and Landing Proposed scenario: Specific ramp infrastructures

Estimated Cost per Km per Seat (€ per km per seat)

Main Conclusion The PPlane project team has identified aspects of a new small aircraft personal transportation system to be further developed: Technical issues: Aircraft characteristic and performance Associated ground support systems High automation level that is needed for such a system Overall system architecture definition and operation Identification of users needs and expectations Integration to the overall transportation system Management of abnormal situations Social issues Safety of over-flown population Environment concerns (emission , noise etc) PPlane will ensure the mobility of people and goods, fostering safe and secure commuting, without negative impact on other parties

Recommendations PPlane concept represents an important step and milestone in the long road towards a revolutionary personal air transport system Analysis results and recommendations of the PPlane project should be used to continue the European effort to pioneer the air transport of the future Future work to further investigate the concept has to be undertaken rapidly to support the European competitiveness in aeronautics EU – US collaboration on automated Personal Planes Transportation Systems is encouraged in order to accelerate the common vision of global citizen mobility

Automation in Aviation – 2011 EC Report Published in 2011 by the European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation Directorate General for Mobility and Transport “Automation has changed the roles of both the pilot and the air traffic controller. Their roles are now as strategic managers and hands-off supervisors, only intervening when necessary” PPlane is part of the roadmap!