Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington, DC                   February 11, 1999
(Phone:  202/358-1979)

H. Keith Henry
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
(Phone:  757/864-6120/24)

Mary Nolan
AvroTec, Inc., Portland, OR
(Phone:  503/221-1220)

RELEASE:  99-17

GENERAL AVIATION TO GET A NASA-INDUSTRY 'LIFT'

     In the not-too-distant future, there may be a virtual 
"highway in the sky," as the average person could take to the sky 
in small, safe and affordable, easy-to-fly personal aircraft, 
traveling four times the speed of today's cars.  

     NASA has selected a team of industry partners to help develop 
the highway in the sky system, a key element of the government-
industry effort to revitalize general aviation in the United 
States. 

     Development costs will be shared equally between NASA and 
the seven-member industry team, with both contributing 
approximately $3 million.  Team members are Avidyne Corp., 
Lexington, MA; AvroTec Inc., Portland, OR; Lancair, Redmond, OR; 
Raytheon Aircraft, Wichita, KS; Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, 
IA; Seagull Technologies, Los Gatos, CA; and AlliedSignal, 
Olathe, KS.

     The team, with AvroTec as team lead and Avidyne as technical 
project manager, has 2 1/2 years to complete hardware and 
software development of a totally new concept for presenting 
critical, flight-path guidance information to the pilot.

     Dubbed "highway in the sky," the cockpit display system 
includes a computer-drawn highway that the pilot follows to a 
preprogrammed destination.  The highway is drawn on a highly 
intuitive, low-cost flat panel display -- the primary flight 
display of the future -- that will displace decades-old "steam 
gauge" instrumentation.  

     The system also includes a multi-function display of 
position navigation, terrain map, weather and air traffic 
information.  In addition, digital (datalink) radios will send 
and receive flight data, and a solid-state attitude and heading 
reference system will replace gyroscopes.

     Together, the displays and other equipment will provide 
intuitive situational awareness and enough information for a 
pilot to perform safely, with reduced workload, in nearly all 
weather conditions.

     In addition to transforming cockpits, the technology 
developed by the team will redefine the relationship between 
pilots and air traffic control and fundamentally change the way 
future general aviation pilots fly.  This technology is expected 
to significantly increase freedom, safety and ease-of-flying by 
providing pilots with affordable, direct access to information 
needed for future "free-flight" air traffic control systems.  
Pilots will have the ability to safely determine their routes, 
speeds and proximity to dangerous weather, terrain and other 
airplanes.  

     The team will work toward flight certification of the 
highway in the sky system around the year 2001.  This will be the 
first attempt to certify such a system using affordable 
commercial "off-the-shelf" computer technology in aircraft.  

     Development of the highway in the sky system has been 
fostered by the Advanced General Aviation Transports Experiment 
(AGATE) -- a consortium of more than 70 members from industry, 
universities, the Federal Aviation Administration and other 
government agencies.  All seven highway in the sky team members 
are AGATE members.  

     AGATE was created by NASA in 1994 to develop affordable new 
technology -- as well as industry standards and certification 
methods -- for airframe, cockpit, flight training systems and 
airspace infrastructure for next-generation single pilot, four-
to-six seat, near all-weather light airplanes.

     Along with a parallel program -- the General Aviation 
Propulsion program for development of revolutionary engines -- 
AGATE is providing industry partners with technologies leading to 
a small aircraft transportation system in the early 21st century.  
These investments support the national general aviation "roadmap" 
goal to "enable doorstep-to-destination travel at four times 
highway speeds to virtually all of the nation's suburban, rural 
and remote communities."

                              - end -



                            * * *