HIGH SPEED RESEARCH This McDonnell Douglas conceptual design for a Mach 2. 4 supersonic trans- port is sized to carry about 300 passengers over a distance of 5,000 nautical miles. A NASA/industry high speed civil transport research effort is a first step toward determining whether such a plane can be economically viable and environmentally acceptable. Photo Courtesy of National Aeronautics and space Administration. A ircraft manufacturers of several nations are developing technology for the next plateau of national aviation: the long-range, environmentally acceptable, second generation sup passenger transport, which could be flying by 2010 NASAs High Speed Research(HSR) program is intended to demonstrate the technical feasibility of a high speed civil transport(HSCT)vehicle. The program is being conducted as a national team effort with shared gov ernment The team has established a baseline design concept that serves as a common configuration for inves- igations. A full-scale craft of this design would have a maximum cruise speed of Mach 2. 4, only marginally faster than the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic transport. However, the HSCT would have double the capacity of the Concorde, and it would operate at an affordable ticket price.., challe c Phase I of the HSR program, which began in 1990, focused on environmental challenges: engine on effects on the atmosphere, airport noise, and sonic boom. Phase IL, initiated in 1994, focuses on the technology advances needed for economic viability, principally weight reductions in every aspect of the baseline configuration. In materials, the HSR team is developing, analyzing, and verifying the technology for trimming the baseline airframe by 30 to 40%. In aerodynamics, a major goal is to minimize air drag to enable a substantial increase in range. Phase II also includes computational and wind tunnel analyses of the baseline HSCT and alternative designs. Additional research involves ground and flight simulations aimed at development of advanced control systems, flight deck instrumentation, and displays Courtesy of National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (particularly commercial transport), the desire for improved passenger services, more efficient aircraft routing and operation, safe operations, and reduced time for aircraft maintenance are the primary drivers for improving The requirements for digital communications for civil aircraft have grown so significantly that the industry as a whole embarked on a virtually total upgrade of the communications system elements. The goal is to achieve a high level of flexibility in processing varying types of information as well as attaining compatibility between a wide variety of communication devices. The approach bases both ground system and avionics design on the ISO Open System Interconnect(OSI)model. This seven-layer model separates the various factors of commu nications into clearly definable elements of physical media, protocols, addressing, and information identification The implementation of the OSI model requires a much higher level of complexity in the avionics as compared to avionics designed for simple dedicated point-to-point communications. The avionics interface to the physical e 2000 by CRC Press LLC© 2000 by CRC Press LLC (particularly commercial transport), the desire for improved passenger services, more efficient aircraft routing and operation, safe operations, and reduced time for aircraft maintenance are the primary drivers for improving the communications capacity of the avionics. The requirements for digital communications for civil aircraft have grown so significantly that the industry as a whole embarked on a virtually total upgrade of the communications system elements. The goal is to achieve a high level of flexibility in processing varying types of information as well as attaining compatibility between a wide variety of communication devices. The approach bases both ground system and avionics design on the ISO Open System Interconnect (OSI) model. This seven-layer model separates the various factors of commu￾nications into clearly definable elements of physical media, protocols, addressing, and information identification. The implementation of the OSI model requires a much higher level of complexity in the avionics as compared to avionics designed for simple dedicated point-to-point communications. The avionics interface to the physical HIGH SPEED RESEARCH This McDonnell Douglas conceptual design for a Mach 2.4 supersonic trans￾port is sized to carry about 300 passengers over a distance of 5,000 nautical miles. A NASA/industry high speed civil transport research effort is a first step toward determining whether such a plane can be economically viable and environmentally acceptable. (Photo Courtesy of National Aeronautics and Space Administration.) ircraft manufacturers of several nations are developing technology for the next plateau of inter￾national aviation: the long-range, environmentally acceptable, second generation supersonic passenger transport, which could be flying by 2010. NASA’s High Speed Research (HSR) program is intended to demonstrate the technical feasibility of a high speed civil transport (HSCT) vehicle. The program is being conducted as a national team effort with shared government/industry funding and responsibilities. The team has established a baseline design concept that serves as a common configuration for inves￾tigations. A full-scale craft of this design would have a maximum cruise speed of Mach 2.4, only marginally faster than the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic transport. However, the HSCT would have double the capacity of the Concorde, and it would operate at an affordable ticket price. Phase I of the HSR program, which began in 1990, focused on environmental challenges: engine emission effects on the atmosphere, airport noise, and sonic boom. Phase II, initiated in 1994, focuses on the technology advances needed for economic viability, principally weight reductions in every aspect of the baseline configuration. In materials, the HSR team is developing, analyzing, and verifying the technology for trimming the baseline airframe by 30 to 40%. In aerodynamics, a major goal is to minimize air drag to enable a substantial increase in range. Phase II also includes computational and wind tunnel analyses of the baseline HSCT and alternative designs. Additional research involves ground and flight simulations aimed at development of advanced control systems, flight deck instrumentation, and displays. (Courtesy of National Aeronautics and Space Administration.) A