A Preliminary Study of the Basic Display/Guidance Requirements for Flying Near Optimal Trajectories

The NASA has responded to the increased emphases on cost efficient operation of today´s airline fleet with an ongoing research program to investigate the requirements and benefits of using new airborne guidance and pilot procedures, which result in cost optimal flight profiles that are compatible with advanced air traffic control system concepts. A trajectory optimization algorithm has been incorporated into one of NASA Langley´s fixed-based simulators to investigate the pilot/cockpit interface requirements. The trajectories that are generated by this algorithm differ from conventional profiles in that they are constantly varying in both flight path angle and airspeed. Considering the dynamic nature of these profiles, conventional guidance may be insufficient for practical use. This paper summarizes the results of an initial set of piloted simulation tests to investigate the basic guidance requirements for flying the near optimal trajectories.