Cooperative and Coordinated Digital Flight
A capability of cooperative and coordinated flight operations founded on a platform of secure digital information exchange, distributed authority, and intelligent onboard automation for flight path management in four dimensions (lateral, vertical, & time) to promote ubiquitous, safe, seamless, and efficient airspace utilization for all operators and with flexible architectures that enable operators to achieve their unique and diverse mission objectives with minimal restriction.
Operate From Anywhere
A substantial expansion of the locations and operational conditions under which vehicles can access the National Airspace System, including expanded use of the nation’s existing uncontrolled aerodromes and flexible creation of new temporary and permanent aerodromes with minimal required permanent infrastructure, and support for low-visibility and high demand operations.
In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance
A broad range of safety systems that proactively mitigate risks and demonstrate innovative solutions while ultimately ensuring safety to the community on the ground and in the airspace, employing services, functions, and capabilities that perform comprehensive monitoring and communication of the aviation system state, assessment of elevated risks, and mitigation actions to assure safety.
Micro-Services for Flight Operators
A diverse marketplace of appropriately authorized service providers distributed throughout the aviation ecosystem supporting flight operations with a wide range of micro-services to meet the varied needs of each operator in the local airspace.
Data and Decision Support Marketplace
A data-and-reasoning fabric providing an open virtual ecosystem of secured software infrastructure, tools, protocols, governance and policies to implement, manage and operate data sharing and reasoning services across the entire span of mobility for real-time decision support.
Digital Airspace
A capability of airspace and air traffic management founded on a platform of digital information and automation to promote safe, seamless, and flexible airspace utilization for all operators and considers airspace constraints dynamically by digital means to ensure system performance and safety.
We envision two community groups, day of use and contributing. Contributing stakeholders perform research, development, and implementation to ensure the day of use stakeholders are successful.
Day of Use Stakeholders
Contributing Stakeholders
Planning
A new aviator passes streamlined certification for flying a highly automated General Aviation aircraft. The physical skills of flying have been largely replaced by reliable automation to enable simplified vehicle operations, including fully automated takeoff and landing. Utilizing Cooperative and Coordinated Digital Flight, the decision-making involved in managing the flight safely through the populated airspace and around weather hazards is now also largely automated, making it much easier to become a licensed aviator than in years past.
The aviator accesses a flight-planning service available through FAA-authorized Micro-Services for Flight Operators to plan a series of flights to pick up family members and fly them to a reunion gathering at the beach. The services are tailored to the aircraft’s specific capabilities and the unique weather and airspace characteristics to be encountered.
Operation
Despite low visibility, by using the capability of Operate from Essentially Anywhere, Anytime, the takeoff from the regional airport is accomplished without delay, and the aircraft integrates seamlessly with the commercial operations that equitably share the airspace. Leveraging the capabilities of Cooperative and Coordinated Digital Flight, the aircraft’s flight-path automation makes subtle changes to the route based on traffic, weather, and Digital Airspace data continuously received through onboard sensors and from the expansive, always-connected Data and Decision Support Marketplace.
Conflicts with other aircraft are automatically resolved through cooperative rules, intent sharing, and vehicle-to-vehicle coordination where necessary, with extra monitoring by In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance. The aviator is aware of all flight path changes and their reason and can interact with the automation as desired to set preferences.
Approaching the ultimate destination, another regional airport near the beach, onboard automation utilizes Digital Airspace metering and regional Micro-Services for Flight Operators facilitation to ensure a landing slot, parking, and connecting ground transportation.
Success
The multiple flights are completed with no issues, each passenger having enjoyed a smooth ride with a good view arriving at the beach.
The youngest among them, seeing how easy and fun it was to fly, asks when she can become a pilot too. She eventually grows up, gets her pilot’s license, and achieves her dream of being a flight instructor to pay it forward.
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