The novel rotorcraft technologies developed within CS2 have significant potential in contributing to the overall objectives and targets of Flightpath 2050. However, limited assessments are available to clearly define the potential of FRC in reducing environmental impact, or the specific socio-economic benefits at the airport and ATS level. The progress beyond the current state-of-the-art in research has been in undertaking and presenting such analysis and assessments. This has been achieved through further development and integration of existing modelling capability, to achieve reliable and robust impact assessments. In terms of the approach and methods used, notable progress has been made in the innovation, customization, and utilization of multi-disciplinary simulation tools to achieve the required objectives.
Key impacts of the project:
Environmental impact: The impact of the project is the quantification of the potential (fuel and environmental impact) of future fast rotorcraft relative to reference technology. The analysis undertaken using advanced performance simulation models has enabled the quantification of the role of rotorcraft in achieving the requisite environmental targets. This has been described in detail in Project Deliverables 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 where results on fuel and gaseous emissions at airport and ATS levels were presented. Additionally, the results have been presented in the Clean Aviation TE Annual Review assessments (2021, 2022, and 2023), at EASN2022 (Saias et al., 2022), and at ERF2023 (Leclerck et al., 2023).
Socio-economic impact: In terms of socio-economic impact, the studies were extended to a global level. This contributes to establishing the role of the novel rotorcraft technology in meeting market and societal needs through transportation and economic efficiency improvements. Through the utilisation of the European Multi-modal Mobility Analysis model, the project quantified the improvements of the introduction of the FRC concepts in terms of mobility.
Maintaining and Extending Industrial Leadership: The tools developed within the consortium have enabled assessments at airport and ATS levels that allow contributing further to existing industrial knowledge and technology. The work has aided the research in a continuation project on rotorcraft assessments with the TE in CS2 (FASTRIP2050) by providing a robust platform of modelling techniques and frameworks. The extension of the tools to model conceptual large capacity compound and tilt-rotor rotorcraft will provide new insight into the feasibility and potential of those. FASTRIP2050 has continued supporting the establishment of the Fast Rotorcraft IADP, and the Regional Aircraft IADP, to leverage cooperation between industry, academia and research establishments to achieve research excellence. By establishing the effectiveness of future rotorcraft concepts through impact assessments the work continues to provide insight into the future direction of research, thereby contributing to the competitiveness of the European aviation industry.
