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Fact SheetNational Aeronautics andSpace AdministrationLangley Research CenterHampton, Virginia 23681-2199 FS-2004-07-95-LaRC_______________________________________________________________________________________

Small Aircraft Transportation SystemTechnology development could transform public air travel

Imagine being able to hail a plane at yourneighborhood airfield much like you do ataxi in a city.It may not be quite as simple as steppingoff the curb and waving your hand, buttechnology being developed by NASA'sLangley Research Center in Hampton, Va.,could help make air taxi service availableand convenient to more people.The Small Aircraft Transportation Systemor SATS project is a public-privatepartnership working to create technologyand operating capabilities that could helpplanes safely fly into underused rural andsuburban airports, in almost all kinds of weather. That includes many airfields thatdon’t have radar or air traffic controltowers.Nearly all of the people in the U.S. livewithin a 30-minute drive of at least one of these 5,400 airports.

This illustration shows an artist's concept of what aSmall Aircraft Transportation System plane mightlook like.

NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration andthe National Consortium for Aviation Mobility andits SATSLabs across the country are developingintegrated airborne systems, cockpit displays andoperating procedures for advanced four to tenpassenger aircraft.SATS research is focusing on four operatingcapabilities that may help people and goods travel

faster and farther, anywhere and any time. Thesetechnologies would allow:• higher volume operations at airports that

don’t have control towers or terminal radar• pilots to land safely in low visibility

conditions at minimally equipped airports• increased single pilot performance• better understanding of how SATS

operations will impact the national airspace

Turning up the volume

Many small airports, especially those withoutradar or an air traffic control tower, allow onlyone plane to fly into and around the airfieldduring bad weather. That means only about threeaircraft can land every hour.

Technologies being developed could increase howmany planes can safely enter or operatesimultaneously in the air space around a smallairport, before and during landing.Those technologies include cockpit displays thatshow traffic; enhanced systems that display whereeach plane is, where it's headed and how fast it'sgoing; data-link communications; and computersoftware that can help pilots safely fly and land.

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Airports would also be equipped with asystem that could receive the planes'broadcast signals and then assign alogical sequence for arriving aircraftand send that information back to theplanes.

Lowering landing criteria

Bad weather can severely restrict theability of planes to land at airfields.Today expensive ground- basedequipment is required at each airport tolet aircraft fly in low visibilityconditions.Cockpit display technologies alreadybeing tested could give the pilot a clearelectronic 3D perspective of the realworld outside, even in bad weather,

and offer guidance information. Graphical cockpit displays could help more planes landat small airfields.

Improving pilot performance

Making flying easier could mean that one pilotcould operate as safely as two.New on-board systems can provide better weatherinformation as well as improved navigational andlanding tools to help the single pilot fly safely andeasily even in the larger complex airspace.The cockpit technologies would also give pilotsoral and visual alerts.

Integrating en route

Researchers are working to establish proceduresto enable more small planes to better fit into theflow of air traffic in the national airspace system.Many of the technologies that support the otherthree capabilities could also help track smallplanes in flight.The SATS/NCAM/FAA team plans todemonstrate the four operating capabilities and

New cockpit displays can paint a picture of the outsideworld so pilots can land safely even in bad weather.

their benefits in flights andsimulations in Danville, Va. in2005.NASA and a number of SATSLabsaircraft hope to prove thatemerging aviation technologies canbe integrated into operations in anairport environment. The team alsohopes to demonstrate that this newcapability may some day enablemore small aircraft and airports tobe used safely and reliably forroutine, affordable and efficientpublic air travel.

For more information please checkthe Internet at:http:// sats.nasa.govor call NASA Langley PublicAffairs at: (757) 864-6124