Dave Higdon/HOUSTON
NASA and the US Federal Aviation Administration have begun studying the next step in general aviation revitalisation, even before programmes to develop new aircraft and engine technologies have reached fruition.
It already appears that infrastructure will be the focus of the next NASA/FAA effort after the Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiment (AGATE) and General Aviation Propulsion (GAP) programmes meet their goals early in the next century.
"The [NASA] Administrator gave us until about this time next year to study what the next level of effort should be to continue the revival of general aviation," says Bruce Holms, director of NASA's general aviation programme office. According to Holms, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin "-realises that you can't just invent a better aeroplane and expect general aviation to be fine from then on".
The AGATE and GAP programmes are geared to deliver new airframe, avionics and engine technologies that will make general aviation aircraft cheaper to build and easier to fly. "There's got to be a follow-on so there are places to fly and ways to get there, in Administrator Goldin's view," says Holms. That means more and better airports and solutions to demands for all-weather access to more airports.
"Our job is to try to identify what will be most helpful to continuing the expansion and revival of general aviation, where to put our resources and what results we need to see," he says. "Airports, facilities, mechanics, navigation systems- these are all pieces of the infrastructure that need to evolve and adapt to the demands of what we expect will be a larger, more active community," Holms adds.
The results of this "next step" study are not due until next year, "-but it's clear that other aspects of flying must be improved for the long term health and growth of all of aviation", says Holms.
Source: Flight International
