Collision Avoidance for Naval Training Aircraft.
Abstract
Lincoln lab was tasked by the FAA to assist the Naval Air Training Command in evaluating the feasibility of using the FAA's TCAS (Traffi Alert and Collision Avoidance System) concept as the basis of a collision avoidance system for naval training aircraft. This document summarizes the results of a brief study and flight test activity conducted to that end. It begins with a review of Lincoln Lab's. understanding of the nature of the mid-air collision problem. This is followed by a brief analysis of a set of documented collisions and near-miss encounters involving aircraft of Navy Training Air Wing 5 at Whiting Naval Air Station in Fla. in 1982 and 1983. Experience gained from FAA and Lincoln Lab. flight tests of similar encounters is reviewed and applied to the Navy encounter data base. This is follwed by review of the results obtained when a Lincoln Lab. aircraft equipped with a TCAS Experimental Unit (TEU) was flown to Whiting Field to evaluate the ability of TCAS I equipment to perform reliable surveillance in the Naval training environment. Flight test results show that the environment is quite unlike typical civil environments, but that the TCAS surveillance design would be capable of providing a significant degree of protection to Naval trainers. The aircraft types studied by Lincoln Lab. were the T-34C fixed-wing trainer and the TH-57 helicopter. These aircraft appear to be involved in the majority of the hazardous encounters reported by Naval Air Training personel.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 08, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA153623
Entities
People
- J. D. Welch
- J. W. Andrews
- R. R. Lafrey
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology