Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GAINS (General Aviation Improved Navigation and Surveillance)
Reporting period: 2019-01-01 to 2019-12-31
GAINS’s Surveillance and Navigation Demonstrations aimed to show the wider aviation community how improvements being developed by SESAR can be adapted to the respective Concepts, thereby enhancing GA operations without prohibitive cost or certification requirements, enabling integration and inclusion of GA within high density airspace or environments in which GA is constrained due to proximity of adjacent airports or airways for scheduled airlines or the military.
The flights undertaken were intended to:
• Demonstrate to the wider GA community the benefits of these technologies;
• Collect evidence on performance of these technologies within the typical operational environments of GA;
• Support regulatory adaptations with the certification authorities to enable wider deployment; and
• Demonstrate the deployment of SESAR solutions to enable integration of all airspace users.
The end goal being contribution to better integration of GA at controlled and uncontrolled aerodromes, as well as improving safety, efficiency and predictability of operations and even enabling the provision of basic air traffic services at aerodromes where this is not economically viable.
Surveillance demonstrations objectives:
• the use of low-cost on-board ADS-B surveillance equipment and its use by GA/Rotorcraft for cockpit traffic situation awareness especially in the airfield circuit (the most hazardous environment).
• the use of aircraft position data transmitted by ADS-B and received on a low-cost display device at the airfield service position, to assist management of aircraft in the circuit as well as arrivals and departures from the circuit. This will be demonstrated for three service environments: Air-Ground Communication Service; Aerodrome Flight Information Service and, subject to availability, Air Traffic Control Service.
• the effective reception range of ADS-B equipment with both fixed transmission power and variable/adaptive power in two environments: airfield circuit and in class G airspace outside the aerodrome air traffic zone.
Navigation demonstrations objectives:
• that a range of GA aircraft/rotorcraft with a range of different equipment capabilities are able to participate safely and efficiently in the navigation solutions envisaged, in particular the ability to fly RF legs with acceptable flight technical error.
• potential operational advantages of these solutions in constrained operational environments, for example, short final approach segments, steeper than standard glidepaths, and avoidance of noise sensitive areas
• that, in combination with the surveillance solutions, these navigation solutions can be integrated into a typical GA airfield operating environment with limited ATM capability.
• Project management plan to control and monitor the project progress, to set roles and responsibilities and to define the objectives and the strategy of communication and dissemination activities;
• Project demonstration plan that provided detail about the exercises foreseen, their planning, objectives, measures of success and associated risks;
• Data management plan;
The second year of the project was focused on coordinating demonstrations, collecting data, conducting data analysis and reporting and continuing project communication and dissemination activities (about 41000 people reached).
Active engagement of the multiple stakeholders was crucial, with:
• establishment of participation agreements with aerodromes suitable for the demonstrations foreseen. Seven aerodromes for surveillance demonstrations and three aerodromes for navigation demonstrations;
• development of a survey to collect interest from pilots to participate in the project, 245 suitable pilots (with suitable aircraft) applied;
• engagement of regulators (EASA, UK – CAA, France – DGAC) and ANSPs (DFS, NATs), through WP6 Technical Advisory Committee;
• engagement with avionics suppliers and shops to ensure availability of software and equipment;
• approach to rotorcraft training schools to engage rotorcraft pilots;
• coordination of all actors involved in the demonstrations.
For the surveillance demonstrations a total of 42 pilots in 27 fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft completed 43 flight hours in the visual circuit testing EC with cockpit displays within a 100% equipped environment.
For the navigation demonstrations a total of 29 pilots in 22 aircraft flew 357 approach operations on eight advanced PBN instrument approach procedures incorporating a mix of steep approaches and varying diameter RF legs with LPV and ILS final approaches.
GAINS’ results have demonstrated clear benefits to GA operations from adapting SESAR solutions to enable improved integration in today’s challenging airspace. These have shown that EC improves traffic situational awareness for both pilots and ground ATS staff, and that RNP to xLS can be flown by a wide range of GA aircraft and pilots with acceptable track-keeping performance.
Further, result of the project outcomes and feedback, FUNKE already made modifications and included additional features to both ground and cockpit equipment, ADS-B-IN and ADS-B-OUT respectively.
GAINS results were shared with ANSPs, regulators and EASA throughout with the aim of contributing, accelerating and supporting regulatory adaptations, and in March 2019, after requests from the GAINS project for a change of policy to enable the trials, Garmin and EASA have worked to lift the European restriction and align with FAA and their conditions. The FAA had already approved Garmin GTN 650/750 series for flying RF legs two years ago, subject to certain conditions.
The surveillance
The project was also awarded 3rd Prize in the ATM Awards 2019, in the Research & Innovation category, by the Air Traffic Management magazine.
GAINS expects to continue contributing providing evidence to argue for changes in the regulatory and safety assessment process for General Aviation (whilst not anticipated under existing ICAO or EASA regulatory frameworks), contributing to potential improvements to the ATM Master Plan and support standardisation and regulation for more efficient installation and use of equipment demonstrated, these can pass by:
• the deployment of PBN approach procedures to GA airfields incorporating the features demonstrated in GAINS to achieve better airspace use and integration;
• the realisation of an aerodrome operating environment with all (or almost all) aircraft equipped with interoperable EC (noting that interoperability must take account of the needs and capabilities of all airspace users).