Is this a NASA registered Cirrus?
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/videos/metafiles/ksc_120203_sats.ram
Yep, although the video you posted shows their Lancair 300. [:O] Check out this story from Aviation Week about their SATS program.
Cheers
Rick
NASA does have a Cirrus being used for research. What NASA is trying to do is have advanced aircraft in the Airspace system to be able to land at the smaller airports, with improved safety.
http://sats.nasa.gov/ For more information
There is a NASA registered Cirrus, it is SN12, N501NA. I’m the primary pilot for the aircraft and the NASA project pilot for SATS. Our company, Compass Aero, has been contracted by NASA to operate 501 as well as a Lancair, 507NA and a Cessna 206, 504NA. All the aircraft support NASA research in the areas of weather, cockpit design, displays, synthetic vision system (HITS) as well as the SATS program referenced in the video.
I hope to have the aircraft at OSH this year, as well as several events on the east coast this summer.
If I can answer any question regarding the aircraft or programs I will try.
Charlie Cope
For that matter, check out the splash image at the http://www.larc.nasa.gov/larc_images/images.htmNASA Langley images page!
Cheers,
Roger
Charlie:
Thanks for the info. Any chance you might be attending M2 and bringing your baby? Would be fun to see the present set up.
David Schwietert PFD/TKS
In reply to:
I’m the primary pilot for the aircraft and the NASA project pilot for SATS.
Charlie,
This is very cool. I look forward to maybe seeing the airplane at OSH.[:)]
SATS is an interesting concept that hopefully will utilize Cirrus, or should it be that Cirrus will utilize the SATS concept? It seems to me that NASA and Cirrus had an idea about the future of aviation together. Also Charlie, I have a few questions about SATS. If you could email me at milod0114@aol.com when possible. Thank you.
Charlie, can you give us any insight into when we might expect innovations like HITS synthetic vision in our cockpits? I grew up playing video games, so if you can show me a screen with terrain, other traffic, and the airport environments, I’d be super comfortable.
You mentioned that the experimental platform is driven by an SGI system - is it likely that any HITS type functionality is likely to be a software update for guys with a Avidyne Entegra flight deck today? Or is it more likely that we’ll be tearing these expensive PFDs out and replacing them with something with a bit more CPU and graphics engine horsepower?
Thanks for your comments!
-Dane
Well the current set up isn’t too exciting. We still have the basic 6 with a Sandel on the left and a modified MFD in the middle. Current research has us only using the map display to set up self sequenced approaches. Later cockpit layouts will feature a modified PFD as well as a PFD on the right, at some point. Once we have a PFD on the left, we can begin to truly reserch the HITS type of symbology.
C Cope
I will try to upload a concept drawing.
1-92008-MIP2B.pdf (2.7 MB)
In reply to:
Well the current set up isn’t too exciting. We still have the basic 6 with a Sandel on the left and a modified MFD in the middle. Current research has us only using the map display to set up self sequenced approaches. Later cockpit layouts will feature a modified PFD as well as a PFD on the right, at some point. Once we have a PFD on the left, we can begin to truly reserch the HITS type of symbology.
Charlie,
The drawing made it. Beautiful! It’s funny because I have sketched out a Cirrus panel very similar to this while fantasizing about having another screen on the panel (as a dedicated engine and systems display among other things). One quick question: Is there a reason that this panel is geared toward the PIC being in the right seat?
Very observant! It is set up to have the NASA safety pilot in the right seat and a subject/evaluation pilot/researcher in the left. We set it up this way so we would have a untouched, sterile set of instruments in front of the safety pilot. The left PFD and MFD are driven by Silicon Graphics computers in the left back seat. This allows us to conduct research in the airspace structure while IMC.
C Cope
I thought I should add a drawing of the first phase we are moving to. …and before anyone asks, we do NOT have weather on the MFD as depicted.
C Cope
1-92063-MIP1F.pdf (1.91 MB)
In reply to:
Very observant! It is set up to have the NASA safety pilot in the right seat and a subject/evaluation pilot/researcher in the left. We set it up this way so we would have a untouched, sterile set of instruments in front of the safety pilot. The left PFD and MFD are driven by Silicon Graphics computers in the left back seat. This allows us to conduct research in the airspace structure while IMC.
In reply to:
I thought I should add a drawing of the first phase we are moving to. …and before anyone asks, we do NOT have weather on the MFD as depicted.
Charlie,
Thanks! This is all very interesting. I look forward to future posts on the research subject. It is so exciting to see the impact that SATS has already had and will have in the future on general-aviation as we know it.[:)]