Emerging new aircraft types, such as Cruise-Efficient Short Take-Off and Landing (CESTOL) transport aircraft, have the potential to positively affect the efficiency and capacity of the NextGen Air Transportation System, according to research recently completed by Sensis.

Under a NASA contract the team analyzed the impact of five advanced vehicles in NextGen scenarios. In addition to a CESTOL vehicle, the team investigated Large Commercial Tiltrotor Aircraft (LCTR), an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), a Very Light Jet (VLJ) and a Supersonic Transport (SST). NASA is currently evaluating the data and recommendations that were generated by the project.
 
“The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) has indicated that projected future travel demand in 2025 is only 80% accommodated if NextGen is implemented without taking into account these new vehicles,” said Ken Kaminski, vice president of Sensis Advanced Development. “Depending on how these new vehicles are incorporated, the unique performance characteristics of each vehicle can address potential shortfalls in accommodating future travel demands.”
 
The Sensis team – comprised of Sensis, Georgia Tech, CSSI, ATAC, L-3 Communications, Honeywell and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – examined the five vehicles in terms of performance, safety and environmental impact.
 
In terms of safety, each vehicle operates in some new and unique ways and therefore poses unique safety considerations that need to be addressed with vehicle-specific procedural, training and technological solutions. This study identified critical safety issues such as a CESTOL’s approach and descent characteristics and VLJ risks associated with potentially shifting the number of flight crew from two to one to meet operational financial requirements.
 
 “This NASA sponsored research establishes that these new vehicles hold great promise to positively impact air travel in the future, particularly in terms of meeting the projected air travel demand without adversely affecting overall NAS performance,” said Kaminski. “Now is the time to start developing the unique processes and tools needed to effectively incorporate them into NextGen in a safe manner as these vehicles possess different performance characteristics than conventional aircraft.”