DFW Airport

Summary The need for long runways to handle airline traffic that approach at 3-degree glideslopes has driven airport design for many years. As airliners have increased in size and range to handle the traveling public needs two-mile long runways are

becoming commonplace around the world. This requires the airports to spend enormous amounts of money to expand and buy more valuable land. In addition, approach and departure paths have increased in length and width to handle the noise and safety issues to gain public acceptance. Noise abatement costs have risen steadily as encroachment into neighborhoods and industrial areas continue. In some cities these ever-increasing demands

are restricting the capacity of existing airports and, in some cases, even threatening the airport’s existence. In many cases scheduled service has been terminated and the airports either closed or turned into general aviation facilities – not what was envisioned when they were built. Airports offer unique economic advantages to their surrounding areas. They provide rapid access to the world’s transportation systems allowing people and goods to move quickly and efficiently anywhere in the world in a matter of hours. Cities with airports are more attractive to industry, have a higher tax base and in general have a more vibrant economy when compared with cities without access to air transportation.

AIAA International Powered Lift Conference 5-7 November, 2002

Dick Spivey Consultant

Bell Helicopter Textron

Runway Independent Aircraft..

..Increasing the Capacity of Existing Airports

2002 Biennial International Powered Lift Conference and Exhibit5-7 November 2002, Williamsburg, Virginia

AIAA 2002-5958

Copyright © Bell Helicopter Textron by Dick Spivey. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission.

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Before September 11, 2001 air traffic congestion was becoming a major problem for the airlines, aviation officials, and the traveling public. Billions in revenue were being lost each year to delays caused by trying to fit too many airplanes into the nation’s airports at one time. Weather added to the problems, but the capacity issue for air transportation was beginning to show in a big way around the country. The real issue has been that very few airports and runways have been added to our system for many years while the number of passengers has risen from 5-7% per year. September 11 slowed the process somewhat, but it has only delayed what will again become a major headache in the near future. New ways of thinking and new capabilities are just around the corner that can help this issue and provide growth, without major construction of new large airports and avoiding the environmental issues of building new runways at existing facilities. Coupled with recent advances in air traffic management and new aircraft development, we have a way to fix this emerging problem and improve our quality of life also. In a July 2002 report entitled “The National Economic Impact of Civil Aviation” which was conducted by DRI·WEFA, Inc. and The Campbell - Hill Aviation Group, Inc., presented an in-depth effort to determine the future issues associated with air traffic congestion. The report states in part:

“The importance of civil aviation to the economy, to the nation, and to the quality of life of Americans was made readily apparent by the terrible events of September 11, 2001. Layoffs and financial losses in civil aviation, its supplier industries, the tourism industry, and the broader economy rose sharply. As air traffic returns to pre - September 11 rates of growth—as projected in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) most current forecast —air traffic delays will resume and increase dramatically. Congestion and delay, a function of capacity - constrained airport and airway infrastructure, not only will inconvenience passengers and shippers; it also will impose considerable costs on the United States as a whole. Conversely, investment in this infrastructure will foster economic growth and enhance safety and security. On November 27, 2001, just 11 weeks after the terrorist attacks, John Marburger, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, reiterated the continued need for investment in the nation’s airports and airways in remarks to the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry: “We need to develop a 21st Century global air transportation system that provides safe, secure, efficient and affordable transportation of people, goods, and information in peacetime and wartime—enabling people and goods to move freely anywhere, anytime, on time. We need a system that:

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1. Enhances national security by strengthening homeland defense while enabling the military to project power anywhere in the world at any time; 2. Increases U.S. economic competitiveness by building a more efficient, higher capacity air transportation system; and.. 3. ..improves the quality of life of all Americans by enabling them to do what they want to do when and where they want to do it.?”

The report goes on to describe several possibilities to help reduce the expected delays as air traffic returns to pre-September 11 numbers and then continues to grow at greater and greater rates in the future. The report goes on to say:

“Civil aviation has become an integral part of the U.S. economy. It is a key catalyst for economic growth and has a profound influence on the quality of life of populations around the globe. It integrates the world economy and promotes the international exchange of people, products, investment, and ideas. Indeed, to a very large extent, civil aviation has enabled small community and rural populations to enter the mainstream of global commerce by linking such communities with worldwide population, manufacturing, and cultural centers. Civil aviation products and services generate a significant surplus for the U.S. trade accounts and are in the forefront in the development and use of advanced technologies. Fundamentally, civil aviation touches nearly every aspect of our lives, and its success will, to a great degree, shape American society and the U.S. economy in the coming decades.”

The July 2002 report points out the magnitude of the cost associated with delays in the year 2000,. It then presents a dire warning about the future delay cost because of the expected traffic increase. Even if all the present projects planned are funded and completed, the total delay cost will rise from the $9.4 billion in 2000 to an accumulated total of $156.7 billion by 2012!:

“Congestion and delays had a significant negative effect on the economy and the traveling public in 2000. Commercial airline passenger delays, averaging 12.0 minutes per flight segment for a total of 142 million hours of passenger delay, amounted to $9.4 billion in U.S. delay costs. Hundreds of millions of dollars in additional delays accrued to general aviation and commercial cargo operators.” “If committed OEP aviation infrastructure projects are under - funded or not completed on schedule, the present situation will deteriorate significantly. If no new airport construction or air traffic system improvements are completed, average delay per flight segment will rise to 14.5 minutes in 2007 and 16.5 minutes in 2012, increases of 21% and 38%, respectively, over the 2000 average. Between 2000 and 2012

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V-22 Osprey

inclusive, the cost to the U.S. economy of no further infrastructure enhancement beyond 2000 would approach $170.2 billion.” “Even if currently committed projects are completed on schedule, the situation in 2012 will be worse than in 2000. Average 2012 delay - per - flight segment would be 14.7 minutes, an increase of almost three minutes over 2000. Total 2012 passenger delay would rise to 231 million hours, a 63% increase over 2000. Total U.S. congestion - related costs for 2000 – 2012 would fall to $156.7 billion, a $13.5 billion improvement relative to no investment.”

While these numbers are staggering, it appears that no plan is in the works at the federal level to alleviate the problem. More airports, more runways, larger airliners, forcing travelers to find other ways to conduct business, all seem to be the concepts under consideration. So far only a few NASA personnel and some aviation industry dreamers are willing to look out of the box and try to find real solid solutions that could make a big enough change to solve the delay problem for 40-50 years or more. One idea that comes to mind is to change the type of aircraft that are used on the majority of routes to one that has flight characteristics that would allow it to safely and drastically increase the number of aircraft and passengers that can pass through an airport per day without increasing the size of the airport or increasing its environmental impact. That aircraft is the TiltRotor. TiltRotor aircraft that can offer runway independent operations, and steeper glideslopes and lower noise are just beginning to come into existence. TiltRotor aircraft offer the safety, speed, reliability and comfort of existing airline operations without the need for acquiring expensive land area for increased safety and reduced noise abatement. These unique aircraft are now moving into the military inventory and will soon be available for civil use. They will lay the technical and practical groundwork to enable rapid movement to commercial transportation use. Envision, if you will, the resurgence of general aviation airports. Adding scheduled air service to many communities who had it and lost it or who never had it. The economic benefit of such service can reinvigorate the urban and rural populations and redistribute the population to make better use of our natural resources. Even people in large cities will travel with less hassle, both by air and on the ground. Our freeways will be less crowded and our schools and city services better than ever. All of this is possible because we have figured out the best method of air transportation for the country.

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Lockheed Constellation

Boeing 707

Bell Agusta 609

The Viability of TiltRotors in the Civil Marketplace. Remember when jet aircraft were first introduced in civil aviation? They were too noisy, they cost too much, they used too much fuel, and they needed longer runways. However, they were about 25% faster than the turbo-props of those days. Lockheed’s “Super Connie” turboprop Constellation was just entering the commercial inventory and was considered to be the flagship of the airline community- a beautiful aircraft that was expected to blow away all competition. About the same time Boeing’s KC-135 tanker, an all-jet aircraft was being pushed by Boeing as a commercial transport called the Boeing 707. Within a few years the 707, due to its speed, high altitude cruise and comfort, became the darling of the airlines. From then on, the jet had clear sailing, in spite of the earlier criticisms. We are on that same threshold today. Helicopters have almost reached the end of their evolutionary family tree. Engineers have reached deep to make them as efficient and as fast as practical, and they have run out of ideas. The laws of physics basically limit the speed, altitude and range to about what we see today. They are doing very good work around the world just as turboprops did in their day (and still do in niche markets), but when the job requires the combination of high cruise speed, long range, high altitude flight with vertical takeoff and landing . TiltRotor technology appears to be the next generation aircraft. Naysayers of all types are out there, just as they were when the jet was introduced. Challenges during development have slowed the TitlRotor’s progress just as it did during the jet’s development, but after it is all said and done the promise of the TiltRotor will be as bright as the advent of the jet aircraft, and it will have just as much of an impact on the world of aviation and transportation. The civil aviation world is very conservative, and it will not knowingly take chances with aircraft and passengers’ safety. Any new technology must prove itself in many ways before this community will embrace it. The FAA is doing a masterful job in directing the certification of the Bell-Agusta 609 civil TiltRotor. When that aircraft achieves FAA Certification we can be assured it will meet

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all the safely criteria needed to allow flight in this aircraft to be as comfortable and carefree mode of transportation as today’s airplanes. From a cost standpoint, just as jet aircraft initially cost more than turboprops, the TiltRotor will be more expensive that helicopters. But as the advantages become known and more people see the qualities of TiltRotors, the production numbers will increase and the costs will go down. Ultimately the prediction is that the TiltRotor will overtake the helicopter in many, many missions. Not all, mind you, but in those missions where time and distance become important, the TiltRotor will be the air transportation of choice- both militarily and in civil transportation. The use of TiltRotors, when coupled with advances in Air Traffic Management, can Increase the Capacity of Existing Airports. There are two size TiltRotors presently being produced and others are on the drawing boards and in model test. These include a military version called the V-22 Osprey that, in a civil configuration could seat 40 passengers, a smaller, civilian, corporate version that will hold 6-9 passengers called the Model 609 and, just recently, a new larger TiltRotor called the Quad TiltRotor (QTR) that can seat around 120 passengers. One can imagine TiltRotors operating simultaneously with present fixed-wing aircraft and delivering substantially more passengers to our hubs without creating major additional infrastructure cost. The first thing that comes to mind is the addition of more aircraft into an already existing overcrowded airspace. Technology has already started to help this situation. The advanced technology Global Positioning System has already started to provide assistance to air traffic controllers and to pilots. Each aircraft can soon know exactly where it is, where all other aircraft in its airspace are, and where they are going. This will allow controllers to safely handle more aircraft at one time than they do today. With advanced GPS-based systems Pilots in fixed wing aircraft can continue to operate the way they do now except they have much more knowledge of their surroundings and can continue to land and takeoff safely at high rates even during night and low visibility weather.

Civil QTR over DFW

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TiltRotors will not operate in the fixed wing airspace. It can safely cruise in airspace not now utilized by either jet airliners or regional jet aircraft. In addition, in cruise mode the TiltRotor’s rotors are slowed down to provide better cruise efficiency. This lower tip speed reduces the overall internal and external noise greatly reducing the passenger and community resistance to its use. The reduction greatly diminishes the noise it makes as it flies over quiet neighborhoods. Overall, the use of airspace is more efficient while providing a safer environment for operations. Environmental tests have been conducted by industry and NASA which shows great promise for civil and military TiltRotor operations. In the military the lower noise reduces the ability of an enemy to detect it. In the civil world lower noise will bring welcome relief to the noise sensitive public. Although a TiltRotor can cruise at speeds of 300 miles per hour (mph), it can tilt its rotors back toward the helicopter mode and make approach and departures at speeds between 50 and 80 mph. This allows steeper angles of approach and departure than the normal 3 degrees for most commercial airliners. These steep angles allow the TiltRotor to stay higher above the ground until it is closer to the airport property. Steep takeoff climbouts allow the TiltRotor to climb high enough before reaching the end of the airport property to reduce the noise accordingly. Data from flight tests indicate this aircraft can keep the noise over the airport property in almost all of the most congested commercial airports around the world. American Airlines Captain Dennis Eckenrod’s article in the Summer 2001 Issue of VertiFlight Magazine (Page 72) shows that 50 to 85% of the aircraft that operate into the major airports in the United States travel less than 600 miles; and that the average block speed on these shorter routes is less than 300 mph, even for the 550 mph airliners. This low block speed is caused by the normal in-air delays and vectoring and ground taxi times for airliners to reach their gates. Recently airlines have artificially lengthened their published flight times to accommodate the delays to avoid having to show them arriving late. (Now, we sit in the airplane on the ground awaiting a gate if we happen to arrive on time!) At these average speeds on routes less than 600 miles the TiltRotor can be very competitive. Passengers can reach their destination within the same time period, or perhaps even sooner as congestion is eased by its presence. The traveling public is mainly interested in the time from gate to gate. They must plan their day around that interval. Airports that have parallel runways and a high percentage of flights less than 600 miles (such as Atlanta or Newark) could afford to consider closing one or more outboard runways to fixed wing traffic and convert these runways exclusively to TiltRotor traffic. (I know this sounds like heresy, but follow these thoughts!) Each two-mile long runway could be turned into three landing and takeoff centers for TiltRotor aircraft, thus increasing the thru-put of each runway by a factor of three without adding more acreage or increasing the noise problems. Three TiltRotor

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aircraft could land on that runway in the same time it takes for one airliner to land. Conceivably, the 120 passenger TiltRotor could deliver 3 X more passengers per hour through this location than a Boeing 737 or MD-80 can. TiltRotor traffic can be brought in at angles to the fixed wing traffic, slow to 60 mph, and make their final turn on the runway parallel to the other fixed wing runways. The slow speed allows a much smaller radius of turn, and therefore the flight path can be kept over the airport property. Their emergency wave-off procedure would be to execute a climbing, 60 knot, turn away from the airport into unused airspace. Again GPS systems can space these aircraft in such a way that minimum clearances between aircraft can always be maintained even in the event of an emergency. The slower speed allows the pilots to have plenty of time to react to situations as they occur. Overall, the use of airspace is more efficient while providing a safer environment for operations. Atlanta’s Hartsfield airport could go from 4 movements to 8 movements within the same time interval! The airport can experience a 1.5 to 3 times increase in airplane thru-put without a single acre of land being added to its aviation system or any increase in noise abatement costs. That expansion potential will handle the transportation needs well into the 21 century. The use of TiltRotors will allow General Aviation airports to reopen with Scheduled Air Service without impacting Critical Environmental issues. Many airports started out with scheduled service and their leaders had visions of major economic advantages that it would bring to the surrounding communities. Housing and businesses, schools and services were drawn to the airport primarily because of its access to the air transportation. In time these very entities began to complain about the noise that the airplanes made during takeoff and landing. In an attempt to appease these folks the airlines were forced to cut back service. In time the people that needed the service left and others moved in that had little need for the airport. They too complained, and eventually all scheduled service was dropped. The businesses that depended on the airport also moved to other locations that still allowed air access. This left an airport without the means to sustain itself and many were relegated to general aviation or were closed entirely. Due to the lack of transportation access the community lost its business tax base, its schools were underfunded and their services

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declined. After a while the neighborhood declined. The original vision had been lost, and people moved elsewhere. This is a common scenario in many communities around this nation. Because the noise footprint of the TiltRotor is so small, airports that have been closed to scheduled service because of noise can be reopened and used as they were once intended to be. The size of any general aviation airport is large enough so the noise of the TiltRotor can remain inside its borders. This would allow economic growth to return around that airport, which naturally occurs around transportation hubs, and the community can then reach its full potential with increased tax revenue, creating income for good schools, efficient fire and police protection and overall vitality. TiltRotors will allow Air Travel can be Faster, Safer and More Useful to the Traveling Public When the general aviation airports reopen to scheduled service the traveling public will now have an option to fly to places much closer to their final destination. No longer must one fly to DFW airport and drive to Waco, Texas. They can fly directly to Waco, reducing the automobile traffic in the Metroplex area, reducing the Air Traffic congestion at DFW and helping the economic conditions in both cities. And the traveler has less hassle, shorter trip time, lower rental car bills and possibly may not have pay for a hotel to stay overnight. Air travelers will not have to go through the major airports like they do now. There is no good way to determine the lost time wasted by business travelers forced to spend time awaiting connections at hub airports or driving long distances in heavy traffic to conduct their business. Automobile commuters will see less delays and traffic jams on their roadways and less wear and tear on their nerves. Great is the impact on Quality of Life that Runway Independent Operations will have on Small Communities and on Large Cities around the World. As General Aviation airports begin to gain scheduled service back and other smaller airports allow some scheduled air service, each surrounding community will experience an economic upturn due to businesses having good access to the air transportation system. As more cities and towns see the economic advantages they will understand the value of allowing small airports to prosper near their communities. In time the population will migrate back into the small communities, allowing the big cities to reduce their overcrowded and congested conditions. It should be expected that the large cities would initially resist this movement due to losses in tax base (or a reduction in the growth of their tax base) they will experience. (More heresy!) In time, however, all communities will gain in quality of life, community services and a more uniform distribution of the population.

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History has proven time and time again that citizens tend to gravitate to transportation nodes. The major cities throughout the world are located where they are primarily due to their access to transportation and this trend should continue far into the future. Support for this initiative should be easy to obtain once the impact is understood. With the exception of those Congressmen whose districts are wholly located in large cities, every other member of Congress has within his/her district small towns and rural areas that could benefit from access to air transportation. These are places, for example, where their low tax base, poor streets and city services, inadequate school facilities and the inability to attract top teachers for their children hamper the community’s potential viability. Visionary leaders of these communities could readily show their Congressional representatives the advantages of having air access, how it would bring in energetic small business and enterprising entrepreneurs. Jobs would increase for the local population, and better education would be a magnet to draw industry that would otherwise move to the larger cities. The Congressmen whose districts are wholly inside major cities could be shown the advantages of reduced crowding and traffic on their freeways and roads. Cities will fight this at first, but would soon see the population density reduce to where people would have more room to live, work and play. Parks could be improved and, per capita, the tax base would go up, not down. The July 2002 report “The National Economic Impact of Civil Aviation” goes on the say that even the most aggressive scenario they looked at would not come close to solving the problem:

“A long - term, sustained effort beyond the OEP is needed to eliminate congestion and delay. Even in the most aggressive scenario investigated in this study, annual passenger delay hours rise to unacceptable levels, largely a function of projected growth in demand. If these delays were greatly mitigated, personal and economic cost savings would stimulate U.S. economic growth and employment; businesses would realize greater efficiencies and thus compete more effectively in the global arena; the U.S. trade surplus from aviation manufacturing activity and air transport services would increase; the quality of life for U.S. citizens would improve; and environmental benefits would accrue from reduced aircraft emissions.”

We have been taught since we were very young that bigger was always better, that if a little of something was good then more of it would be better. In this case, (as with the amount food we eat!), more is not necessarily better. A small, but efficient airport with easy access to the larger transportation system will create a

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reasonable size, thriving community where a business can flourish, particularly in a world market. Places like DFW airport, once the world’s largest airport, are creating a huge, overcrowded Metroplex with its associated traffic problems and congestion. Many of today’s larger congested cities are where they are because of transportation access – New York, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, etc. Seaports, airports, rail stations and intersections of major interstate highways all create transportation nodes that make it easy to travel and to bring in raw material and to ship out finished products. But when all of these nodes are concentrated in one place it creates major headaches because people flock to them in ever increasing numbers. The infrastructure cannot handle the numbers and everything becomes congested. Today, cities are growing faster than the infrastructure can handle, and the rural population is dwindling because there are no jobs with a future for their young people. Better to spread things out a bit, redistribute the population and let everyone have more space. The TiltRotor technology promises to do much more than just provide a better way to fly. It can be the linchpin of a new world transportation system that can even change the way we live. Ultimately each country could then utilize their land mass in a more optimum way. This allows the business engine in each country to compete in the world market at maximum effectiveness, and use of the planet’s resources would be more optimized. A great view of the future... Are we willing to do what it takes to get there?