• 20 Jul 2023 08:13 PM
• 0

Automating the AAM Airspace

By Jim Sherman, AIAA
Vertiflite, Jul/Aug 2023

The seventh annual VFS program at the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) XPONENTIAL tradeshow featured a partnership with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) to tackle the integration of advanced air mobility (AAM) platforms into the airspace. The joint VFS-AIAA panel took place on May 10 at XPONENTIAL 2023, held this year in Denver, Colorado, on May 8–11.

Last year, AIAA approached VFS about partnering to create a program at this year’s XPONENTIAL aimed at presenting a futuristic approach to managing aircraft in the National Air Space (NAS). AIAA has commenced a task force to explore alternatives for automated/autonomous admission of aircraft into the NAS. As the NAS is currently defined — and with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) leaning toward a sense-and-avoid solution — more economical solutions that maintain the same-or-better levels of safety should be considered. VFS organized the session at XPONENTIAL with these considerations.

VFS member Ajay Sehgal opened the session with introductions and background on the session, including US Navy and Marine Corps projects related to airspace integration. The session included representatives from across the AAM and UAM industries, including rural concerns, air taxi operations, research, academia, military and standards. These areas were represented by, respectively:

• James Grimsley, Choctaw Nation
• Tom Prevot, Joby Aviation
• Kurt Swieringa, NASA
• Prof. Ella Atkins, Virginia Tech
• Sterling Alley, US Air Force AFWERX
• Terry McVenes, RTCA

The session was organized by Ajay Sehgal, KBR; Barbara Lindauer and Nick Lappos, Sikorsky; Jim Sherman, AIAA; and Graham Warwick, Executive Editor of Technology for Aviation Week, who was the moderator for the panel.

Once the panel was introduced, Lappos highlighted the AIAA task force activities related to AAM. He highlighted the progress of technology, and how obsolescence has been part of our recent existence, e.g., telephones, CDs, DVDs, cable TV and other examples. The goal in planning for the future of AAM is to make sure we can manage the introduction of new technology while still managing the current system. Lappos highlighted that the National Academy of Engineering started to address this issue in a study he led called, “Advancing Aerial Mobility — A National Blueprint.” The report was published in 2020 (see https://nap.nationalacademies.org). He suggested that the current FAA plan to include detect-and-avoid (or senseand- avoid) with rules for application is unreasonable and not cost-effective for small air vehicles.

As Warwick took over the moderation role, he set a baseline of what success would mean for AAM; is it technically feasible (yes), is there sufficient funding (yes) and can vehicles be certified (probably). Thus, if there are missions that can be best accomplished — considering cost, capability, etc. — using uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and AAM vehicles, then there will exist sufficient economic incentives to proceed.

“After covering the NextGen implementation” for many years, Warwick noted, “I witnessed the success of the program in various sectors of the industry, even with the challenges of the individual ‘guy in the cowboy boots flying the 60-yearold Piper Cub’ user attempting to keep the government from enforcing rules.” The FAA does not favor a single user, company or solution, he proffered, which is how both the UAS and the AAM community originally approached the FAA, before realizing that there are more effective ways to engage the FAA that benefit the overall industry.

Grimsley highlighted the enormous challenges of logistics for travel and delivery to very rural areas where the cost/benefit of delivery is daunting. Delivering a package in the Choctaw Nation is generally not economically feasible, but with the use of UAS and AAM, the economics are actually close, even with the perpetual poverty of the Nation. There is no incentive to invest in the ground transportation infrastructure, but the benefits of AAM and UAM have been diverting resources to the development of vertiports and drone ports to realize economic benefits — including medical and food needs in a very real sense. AAM and UAS can provide real value for real customers with lower costs, he said, if a plan with a long-term approach is approved.

Prevot highlighted that Joby already has FAA approval to operate a Part 135 air taxi service (using a Cirrus SR22) and anticipates that in the near future, AAM will provide great benefits for users, especially in terms of commuting time. Joby has enough capabilities in place to begin operations under the current airspace plan for low-tempo operations. Eventually, the system will need to acknowledge that a significant increase in UAS and AAM operations must be efficient and integrated seamlessly.

Atkins questioned why there were “upside-down wedding cake” constructs in the airspace, especially for low-altitude aircraft. Understanding the “Skies for All” approach needs a modern solution that meets the need for AAM, especially in the dense traffic areas and low to the ground. We have to acknowledge that and recognize that — if we truly want integrated advanced air mobility — we can’t keep the traditional constructs, she argued. Modern computing power can easily be tasked to “wrap” a safe space around each aircraft so it can reach its destination safely. The current NAS system can’t handle the expected dramatic increase in air traffic.

Speaking to NASA’s air traffic management (ATM) research, Swieringa stated that there has never been a more exciting time to be in aerospace, as we are on the edge of a transition that will fundamentally revolutionize the industry. While the focus of low-altitude airspace is on volume, Class E will likely have balloons, supersonic/hypersonic aircraft and launch vehicles. So, NASA and the FAA are working toward defining the information-centric NAS architecture, now referred to as Extensible Traffic Management (xTM).

Alley noted that Agility Prime is investing in US manufacturing through various contracts with electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL)/AAM development companies. In addition, with Autonomy Prime, AFWERX is also investing in technologies to facilitate the use of autonomous vehicles, which includes investing in modern airspace technology. Obviously, the Air Force is not planning to utilize the technology in the same way as the civilian air space, but much will be able to transition across both civilian and military airspace.

Closing out the prepared remarks was McVenes, who highlighted that RTCA has been developing standards for airspace management since 1935 (the abbreviation originally stood for “Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics”). Being the last speaker allowed him to highlight the activities at RTCA; these discussions have been ongoing for years and really not much progress has been made. He provided an example of how the NAS is currently structured and how inefficient it can be in cases of weather interruption — it’s not a great example of a sustainable system.

Finally, during open discussion, a lot of emphasis was put on the pace of technology development and reliability, with many examples including the ubiquitous mobile phone, and the many satellite services that are and will be available. The panel agreed that the time is rapidly approaching when the system will need to change, and many hard decisions will need to be made.

About the Author

Jim Sherman is the AIAA Aviation Forum Executive and a longtime leader in electric propulsion and aviation. He served as the VFS Director of Strategic Development (2019–2022) and the Technical Conference Developer at SAE International (2011–2019), after two decades in the aerospace and defense industry.