Overview of the CESTOL Partnership in NASA's Subsonic Fixed Wing Project

摘要

NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program's, Subsonic Fixed Wing Project has a key technology development goal of obtaining Short Take-Off and Landing performance for civilian commercial air transportation. Increasing the overall airspace system capacity by two or three times the current level over the next 25 years is going to require new ways of operating. One of these ways is for STOL aircraft to employ the pre-existing, short, under-utilized runways at our nation's commercial airports; precluding the need to undertake the expensive, time-consuming, and often unachievable task of additional runway construction. Additional factors of increasing fuel efficiency and the subsequent emitted pollutants along with significant noise reduction remain primary goals of this project for all future aircraft. The desired technology levels related to STOL performance are represented by "N+1", and "N+2". The N+1 vehicle technology represents the reduction of aircraft field performance by 33% which allow the STOL aircraft to access hub airports while creating no disruption with the current Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL) aircraft. These maneuvers are referred to as Simultaneous Non-Interfering (SNI) operations. This has the effect of alleviating traffic congestion at large hub airports which is the primary source of the airspace system delays. The N+2 objective, a 50% reduction of the current CTOL balanced field length, will permit access to smaller, regional airports within the metroplex of high density areas further increasing overall passenger throughput. By routing the regional traffic away from the hub airports, significant delay reduction and overall congestion at the hub airports can be realized. Both N+1 and N+2 STOL aircraft must possess not only STOL field performance but also high maneuverability at low speeds in order to avoid conflicts with CTOL traffic using the longer, main runways. Additionally, the combination of the ability to maintain standard cruise velocity (M > 0.8, 30,000 ft), an increase in fuel efficiency, and significant noise reduction create the focal point of the SFW project's Cruise Efficient Short Take-Off and Landing (CESTOL) transport aircraft technologies.rnThis paper presents the current plans for technology development within NASA SFW for implementing and improving short-field performance for CESTOL transport aircraft while meeting acceptable target goals for noise, fuel burn, and emissions. It also highlights the dual-use partnership that exists between NASA and the Air Force, as the Air Force invests in technology demonstration programs to help refine its technology requirements for an Extreme Short Take-Off and Landing transport to fulfill future air mobility missions. Additional topics include identifying critical technology areas and the required phases to ensure the viability of the CESTOL vehicle.