FAA Airport Technology Research & Developement Branch News Page
News Page
Significant Activity Reports
The Airport Technology R & D Branch provides a weekly report on
significant activities within the branch. These activities include, but are not
limited to, project testing dates, announcements of publications, travel
highlights, visiting dignitaries and groups, and all other activities deemed
significant. Significant activity reports may be viewed by
"scrolling down" or clicking on the following shortcuts to jump to the
report for that
date.
Significant Activities for the Week ending
February 27, 2009
CEAT Program Review and Award Ceremony: Prof. Edwin Herricks of the FAA�s Center
for Excellence for Airport Technology (CEAT) at the University of Illinois was
honored by the FAA with an Aviation Research award for his work supporting the
FAA in using aviation radar technology to mitigate bird strike hazards at
airports on February 19, 2009. Barry Scott, FAA Director of Research &
Technology Development, Dr. David Lange, CEAT Director, Ryan King, Jim
Patterson, Dr. David R. Brill, and Albert Larkin of the Airport Technology R&D
Team attended the ceremony. The FAA attendees toured and viewed a demonstration
of current research at CEAT and the Airport Technology Research and Engineering
Laboratory (ATREL). In the afternoon, Dr. Brill and Larkin attended a program
review of current airport pavement technology research at CEAT.
Taxiway Deviation: Jim Patterson met with the City of Chicago Department of
Aviation at O�Hare International Airport to discuss the upcoming installation of
a taxiway deviation system and the best location for the installation.
Participants identified a site on the north side of the airport at Taxiway P
that will be easy to access, is in close proximity to an electrical vault, and
will experience a large amount of traffic.
Heliport Visual Aids: Renee Williams attended the Helicopter Association
International (HAI) Heli-Expo convention in Anaheim, CA. Attendees discussed
issues concerning heliport operations.
Wildlife Hazard Mitigation: Ryan King met with the FAA Eastern Region Office and
the Port Authority of NY&NJ at their request to provide a status of the planned
bird radar system deployment at JFK.
Full Scale High Tire Pressure Test: Construction work continues on the heated
pavement test section for high tire pressure testing. Personnel installed
Hydronic heating coils and plan to install a hot mesh electrical system prior to
the placement of the econocrete. Researchers, in cooperation with Boeing, will
test to determine the effects of higher tire pressures on asphalt surface course
pavement.
Significant Activities for the Week ending
February 20, 2009
Full Scale High Tire Pressure Test: Construction work has started on the heated
pavement test section to be used for the high tire pressure test with the
demolition of a 12�x100� section of Construction Cycle 5 pavement. Airport
Safety Team researchers, in cooperation with representatives from The Boeing
Company, hope to determine the effects of higher tire pressures on asphalt
surface course pavement.
Aircraft Classification Number/Pavement Classification Number Working Group
Meeting: Airport Safety researcher Dr. Gordon Hayhoe, along with Izydor Kawa of
SRA participated in the Aircraft Classification Number/Pavement Classification
Number (ACN/PCN) Working Group meeting in Seattle, WA. Participants discussed
the COMFAA software program and required upgrades and changes. The group
includes Dr. Dick Alvin, a Pavement Consultant, Roy McQueen of RMC, Rodney Joel
from AAS-100, Gary Mitchell from the American Concrete Pavement Association, and
Boeing Company representatives Ken DeBord, Ed Gervais, and Mike Roginski.
ICAO Visual Aids Working Group: Donald Gallagher attended the sixth meeting of
the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Visual Aids Working Group
from February 9-13, 2009 in Montreal, Canada. Participants from 25 member states
discussed Light Emitting Diodes (LED) implementation issues, the effects of
Enhanced Flight Vision Systems when using LED lighting, chromaticity boundaries
with new LED applications, and solar power airfield lighting.
Significant Activities for the Week ending
February 13, 2009
Composite Material Fire Fighting: Members of the Airport Technology R&D Sub-Team
met with researchers from the USAF Composite Fire Fighting Program and the FAA's
Cabin Fire Safety Research Program. This meeting was to initiate the development
of a professional working group to develop a standardized fire test protocol for
determining adequacy of fire fighting agents and techniques for post-crash fires
involving aircraft manufactured with composite materials.
Low Cost Ground Surveillance (LCGS): This week I.D Systems and Searidge
Technologies gave a briefing at the Tech Center discussing their RFID system and
video surveillance system, respectively. Last week a site visit was conducted at
Spokane International Airport in Spokane, Washington to gather information on a
Prototype LCGS system installed at the airport.
National Airport Pavement Test Vehicle (NAPTV): Third phase work continued on
schedule for the upgrade. Control panel boards have been installed on both
carriages with 25% of the wiring on the north carriage completed. Minor
hydraulic repair work on the existing modules continues.
Airport Pavement Design Workshop, Richmond, VA: Dr. David Brill is participating
as an instructor in the Airport Pavement Design Workshop sponsored by the
Airport Consultants Council (ACC) Institute. The topics covered by Dr. Brill
include an overview of FAA pavement design procedures using the new AC
150/5320-6E, "Airport Pavement Design and Evaluation," and the new FAARFIELD 1.3
software, flexible pavement design, hot mix asphalt (HMA) overlay design using
FAARFIELD and pavement overloads.
Significant Activities for the Week ending
February 6, 2009
Wildlife Hazard Mitigation: Ryan King participated in the annual planning
meeting for the new 5-year Interagency Agreement (IAA) between the FAA and the
US Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife
Services (USDA/APSHIS/WS). FAA and USDA personnel responsible for research into
methods and techniques to mitigate hazards associated with the presence of
wildlife on or near airports attended the meeting. The five-year IAA covers both
operation and maintenance of wildlife strike reporting as well as research
activities related to controlling hazardous species and managing attractive
habitats.
Foreign Object Debris Detection/Avian Radar Research: Ryan King and Jim
Patterson reached a final agreement with the City of Chicago to permit our
Foreign Object Debris (FOD) Detection and Avian Radar projects to proceed. King
and Patterson provided specific details on their research efforts so that a
Right of Entry agreement could be established for the two projects
Light Emitting Diodes Research: Donald Gallagher participated in the RTCA, Inc.
meeting in Wichita, Kansas, January 26-30, 2009. The current Enhanced Flight
Vision Systems (EFVS) rely on the amount of Infrared (IR) being emitted from the
lamps used in approach and runway lighting. Participants discussed the
Department of Energy�s mandate to phase out incandescent lamps that will affect
both approach lighting and airfield lighting. The new technology being
implemented is Light Emitting Diodes, which are more efficient then an
incandescent lamp and produce�s almost no IR. Gallagher recommended that EFVS
should be thought of as a complete system and both aircraft and ground equipment
should be specified in an EFVS Advisor Circular and not as a requirement for
lighting.
Significant Activities for the Week ending
January 30, 2009
Wildlife Hazard Mitigation: Ryan King has been compiling
documentation related to FAA�s involvement in wildlife hazard mitigation
research. Two interviews were conducted in the past week, one with the local
Press of Atlantic City newspaper, and one with the Associated Press.
Engineered Material Arresting Systems (EMAS): EMAS demonstrated a newly
developed field procedure for retrofitting latest generation plastic tops onto
older EMAS beds whose blocks have Durock concrete tops. The new plastic tops
offer better resistance to water penetration, and offer maintenance benefits
over the old Durock tops that required periodic repainting.
Runway Friction: Ryan King delivered a preliminary proposal for coordinated work
to the Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The Airport Safety Technology Sub-Team
is proposing a feasibility study and design concept for modifying their internal
drum dynamometer to accommodate anti-skid braking assembly. This work represents
one aspect of a larger effort to mathematically modeling the anti-skid braking
system into the FAA Simulator software to measure aircraft decelerations during
landings on contaminated runway surfaces.
Paul Jones, AJP-6310, (609) 485-6713, 01/29/09
Update of P-401 Mix Design to Superpave Specifications: Personnel from the
Airport Pavement Technology Sub-Team met with SRA and its sub-consultants (RDM &
Assoc., Advance Asphalt Technology and Soiltek) to discuss the completed
Superpave testing to date, the completion of the Phase 1 work and to finalize
the scope of work for Phase 2 testing. The purpose of this Delivery Order is to
update the P-401 mix design from the old Marshal Method to the new Superpave Mix
design.
Atlanta-Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Filed Instrumentation & Data
Collection: Frank Pecht traveled to Atlanta-Hartsfield Jackson International
Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, to replace an existing remote Data Acquisition System
which was struck by lightening and. The new system includes a Data logger, 4
Multiplexers and a Cell Modem. The purpose of this Delivery Order is to remotely
collect real time concrete pavement data from an existing taxiway at ATL.
8th International Conference on the Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways, and
Airfields (BCR2A): Two papers from the Airport Pavement Technology Sub-Team were
accepted for presentation and publication. The titles of the papers are:
-
A Comparative Subgrade Evaluation using CBR, Vane Shear, and Light Weight
Deflectometer (LWD), and Resilient Modulus Tests, by Dr. Navneet Garg,
Albert Larkin and Harkenwal Brar (SRA)
-
Analysis of In-Pavement Sensor Data for CC2 New Rigid Test Items at the
National Airport Pavement Test Facility by Dr. David Brill and Dr. Edward Guo
(SRA).
Jeff Gagnon, AJP-6312, (609) 485-5226, 01/29/09
Significant Activities for the Week ending
January 14, 2009
Heliport Visual Aids: Nighttime evaluations were conducted on the TLOF and FATO
perimeter lighting on the helipad. The test included evaluation of the beam
spread, intensity, and chromaticity of the lights. Coast Guard pilots were used
as subjects.
Low Cost Ground Surveillance (LCGS): A teleconference was conducted with a
company specializing in video surveillance called Searidge Technologies. It was
an information gathering session, with the end result being a possible site
visit in the future
National Airport Pavement Test Vehicle (NAPTV): Third phase work continued on
schedule for the upgrade of the wheels module system. Over the last week,
hydraulics work crews completed installation of accumulator tanks and the
connection of all flexible hydraulic hoses to the modules. Electrical work crews
installed wiring trays, conduit and wiring to connect the pressure and
temperature sensors of the modules to the new control panels.
Transportation Research Board (TRB) 88th Annual Meeting: Dr. Navneet Garg
presented the paper entitled, �Posttraffic Testing to Study Failure Mechanisms
of Rubblized Concrete Pavements with Hot-Mix Asphalt Overlays� during Session
300 on Monday, January 12th. Jeff Gagnon presented a NAPTF R&D Update to the
ASCE Airport Pavement Committee on the evening of Sunday, January 11th.
Construction Cycle 4 (CC4): Coring of the concrete underlay was completed by QES.
The next round of plate loading tests for the subbase and subgrade are not
schedule to be undertaken until the NAPTV is able to move, which is estimated to
be the middle of March. The work is being performed under a cooperative
agreement with the Innovative Pavement Research Foundation (IPRF). The purpose
of the project, 06-03, is to study concrete pavement overlays of concrete
pavements.
Significant Activities for the Week ending
January 9, 2009
Taxiway Centerline Deviation Study: Airport Safety Researchers
are coordinating installation of the five taxiway deviation data collection
systems. Personnel are negotiating with a suitable contractor to install the
electrical and concrete infrastructure needed for Palm Beach International
Airport and Orlando International Airport. The system at Manchester-Boston
Regional Airport (MHT) continues to collect data. As a precaution, one laser
that was reporting excessive operating temperatures was replaced with a backup
unit. The first set of data from MHT should be sent to The Boeing Company within
the next month.
Drivers Enhanced Vision System: Researchers are completing the last phase of
testing using the FAA�s aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) research vehicle
at the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center. The last phase includes final GPS
testing and using South Jersey Transportation Authority airport firefighters as
evaluation subjects.
Airport Paint Marking Retro Reflective Beads: Ground based subjective and
objective data collection continued on Type I, Type III, Type IV, and two new
beads, Visi Max and 3M. Researchers completed the first month�s airborne
subjective and objective data collection for Type I and Type III beads to
determine the adequacy of both beads for safe operations. Savannah Hilton Head
International Airport has offered the use of a runway test site for an airborne
side by side comparison of Type I and III beads to validate findings from
previous research that Type III beads can provide a more conspicuous visual cue.
Towbarless Towing Vehicle: Jim Patterson and Gordon Hayhoe witnessed the field
testing of the Towbarless Towing Vehicle (TLTV) towing B-777 aircraft on Dec. 16
& 17, 2008 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) with representatives from
American Airlines, Air France, and Goldhofer AG. Patterson and Hayhoe also
witnessed a lighting evaluation of the TLTV under towing conditions during these
trials. Goldhofer will perform additional tests at CDG in 2009. Theses tests are
high-speed at high-load and push-backs at low- and high-load. American Airlines
may run a further series of tests at DFW pending receipt of the remaining test
results.
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Last Update:
04/23/09
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