Session Filter: FlightLab

Presenters will discuss all aspects of aerial suppression of wildfires, including old and new aircraft types, optimized designs, effectiveness, challenges, concepts of operation, coordinated air traffic command and control, use of drones and electrically-powered aircraft, costs, benefits, detection systems, integration with existing systems, fuel concerns, environmental impacts, maintenance, piloting, robotic vehicles and needs of air attack bases.

This is a topic where multiple research teams, almost in partnership with OEM’s, are working at present around the globe. Several programs have been funded under EU Horizons program, Recently, NASA ARMD invited new ideas on “Zero Emission Aviation” under its University Leadership Initiative. Two teams were funded, and new one(s) may be funded by the time of this conference. Under Trailblazers program, Australian government has also funded efforts on decarbonization of aviation.     This proposed session is intended to invite researchers from all these teams from across the globe together under a common forum, so that latest advances can be shared and challenges discussed.

The revolutionary Blended Wing Body (BWB) aircraft design, which promises to provide over 30% more aerodynamic efficiency than today’s tube-and-wing designs, is at an inflection point in its history. NASA, Defense Innovation Unit, and the Department of the Air Force are teaming up with industry to accelerate its development and flight-test a full-scale demonstration aircraft by 2027.

Listen to industry and government subject matter experts involved in its development discuss its progress, impact, and what to expect in its trajectory over the coming years.

This is a historic time for aviation safety in the United States, with many safety-enhancing technologies, including auto-land, auto-taxi, and auto-takeoff, as well as high-precision GPS and remote piloting capabilities within reach. While major U.S. commercial air carriers have a strong safety record, more must be done to make aviation safer. Recent studies have concluded that general aviation operations, which include all civil flights other than scheduled air services and non-scheduled air transport operations for hire, are between 8 and 15 times more dangerous than driving, but that 68% of fatal accidents could potentially have been prevented with safety-enhancing technology. During this session, attendees will learn about:

• Recent data and studies that analyze general aviation accidents and identify how safety technology could have prevented the incidents.
• Specific safety technologies that are under development to prevent these accidents and how these technologies also apply to advanced air mobility.
• The regulatory and public policy focus and changes that are necessary to deploy aviation safety technologies.

Riblets are well know in Aviation as there have been many research in the last century (see AIAA Papers). However there was never a real usage or business case. In recent years more and more research was done (see AIAA Scitech Papers) with different players. Now also Industry is jumping in and investing many recourses in that topic. However, it seems there are many question marks behind the economical benefit of Riblets. The discussion should be about if it is just another Hype or if Riblets “stay” in Aviation this time.

This panel will discuss the following questions:

• How can the industry ensure the safety of eVTOL vehicles for passengers and public
• What advancements are being made in battery technology to increase the range and reliability of eVTOL vehicles
• Regulatory environment for eVTOLs, including safety regulations, certification processes and infrastructure needs
• Use cases and potential applications for eVTOLs, how they are being developed and tested
• Outlook for the future of eVTOL market, including investment, growth potential and challenges to commercialization

AIAA chose to sunset the Congressional Visits Day annual event for many reasons. Primarily, CVD was too broad to make discrete aerospace policy impacts. It was a great experience for our members but didn’t move the needle on issues important to our organization. Our new reimagined CVD aligns with our 3 domains of Aerospace R&D; Aeronautics; and Space. Together with the domain leadership, the PPC can help AIAA advocate for targeted and discrete issues in each of these domains in a specific period of time called Domain Campaigns. Additionally, AIAA will expand our annual Aerospace 101 into an Expo featuring key issues from all domains along with bedrock issues important to our members.  AIAA Presents is a years-long event providing timely advice and advocacy to our stakeholders and our members alike.

The AAM ecosystem is expected to advance from current state-of-the-art operations to a ubiquitous capability, similar to cars today. To realize this vision for AAM, technology will be needed to allow a few operators to manage many vehicles. This is accomplished by fully-automated or autonomous aircraft that have no need for a pilot or operator on-board or on the ground, improving vehicle productivity and economics. The likely scenario is that a remote supervisor will oversee the operation of multiple aircraft with strategic fleet management goals. There are numerous challenges associated with technical/operational, safety and security, societal acceptance, and regulatory. The path from existing m:n operations on small UAS in isolated areas to larger aircraft, such as air taxis and cargo aircraft, operating in a more integrated NAS is not clear.     The panel will discuss key gaps in aviation and research community activities that need to be addressed and/or accelerated to enable routine m:n operations in civil airspace. The discussion will explore building blocks, ongoing activities, needed activities, and potential paths which build on the maturity of enabling technical capabilities.

A panel of experts across industry, academia, and regulatory domains to present and discuss the most practical near-term (3-5 year) approaches to achieving increasingly autonomous flights. The focus areas will include machine intelligence, operational paradigms, technology barriers, and regulatory approaches.

Airports are natural nodes for hydrogen hubs. They host multiple end users, with short and long term energy supply requirements.