UK Research and Innovation’s Future Flight Challenge was formerly launched on 24th August by the Prime Minister marking the start of a new wave of innovation for UK based businesses working in all aspects of aviation.
The Future Flight Challenge aims to revolutionise the way people, goods and services fly, positioning the UK as a world leader in aviation products and markets worth over $675bn to 2050.
The Future Flight Challenge will develop an aviation system to accelerate the acceptance of these innovative air vehicles into service and therefore define how people, goods and services will be delivered in the years to come.
This will increase UK manufacturing opportunities, increase mobility, improve connectivity and congestion and pave the way for a reduced carbon footprint for aviation globally. UK Government will invest up to £125m over the next four years to support these ambitions.
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2. 2
Competition Briefing
• Future Flight Challenge – An Overview – Gary Cutts
• Future Flight Challenge – The Programme – John Morlidge
• Future Flight Challenge – The Competition Rules – Isobel Finley-Day
• Questions and Answers
3. 3
Future Flight Challenge: An Overview
Future Flight is a £125m Industrial Strategy Challenge Programme
seeking to demonstrate novel aviation systems around 3 vehicle types
1. Complexity
2. Problem Statements
3. Context
4. 4
Future Flight Challenge: Complexity
Getting us airborne Getting us long haul Flexing how we fly
Known & understood aviation systems Unknowns
Where are sensible places to develop and demonstrate flight?
How will systems book in and book out goods and people?
What is the right infrastructure for charging or alternative fuels?
What are the economics?
How will they operate round corners, out of sight?
What is the public readiness really like?
Is it all as green as they say?
How will security of passengers be maintained?
How will on-demand air services be integrated with scheduled flight?
5. 5
Problem Statements to be addressed
[PS1] Drone technologies are increasingly well-developed and there are many organisations developing individual vehicle technologies for
Urban Air Mobility. However, the full range of applications is stifled by the lack of infrastructure capabilities (physical and data) needed to
exploit the global market potential.
[PS2] The current Air Traffic Management Systems are not scalable and will not cope with the potential step-change in volume of traffic,
growing density, the increasing diversity of airspace users and the need for fully integrated, non-segregated airspace.
[PS3] There are no clear technology, regulatory or operational paths from piloted to remotely piloted with Visual Line of Sight to remotely
piloted Beyond Visual Line of Sight to fully autonomous air vehicle operation. There is a need to establish an integrated aviation system
which maintains high levels of safety but allows such technology development.
[PS4] Environmental pressure to move towards more electric flight is high but the technology is some way off for even regional aircraft.
There is a need to create pathways from urban vehicles to a sub-regional class to larger aircraft based on market driven technology.
[PS5] There are a range of public and media perceptions of more widespread and possibly autonomous air vehicles. There is a need to
develop use cases and operational frameworks to cultivate public engagement and create market demand.
[PS6] Globally it is believed that there is no aviation innovation/development environment that will allow real-life demonstration and
evaluation of the above elements.
It is recognised that this is not an exhaustive list of problems.
Additional problems will be considered against the challenge objectives.
6. 6
Potential consortia members cover a very broad spectrum
Airports Airspace Airlines Cities Academia Start-ups Manufacturers
Future Flight
Consortia
Some context is provided
to bring focus to solutions
7. 7
There are three classes of vehicles around which solutions
to the problem statements should be considered
Drone Urban Air Mobility All electric sub-regional
Solutions considering other aircraft will not be excluded,
the aim here is purely to provide some focus to a very broad and complex challenge
8. The Aviation System will need to consider all or part of a
broad range of themes
9. 9
Future Flight Challenge
• An Industrial Strategy Challenge of £125m of Government investment
• Focusing on an aviation system to enable safe operations of novel aircraft such as
• Drones
• Urban Air Mobility
• All electric sub regional aircraft
• Bringing broad and diverse stakeholders together
Editor's Notes
At the risk of stating the obvious the convergence of technologies and a global imperative to clean up aviation we are on the cusp of the third revolution of aviation.
The Wright brothers got us airborne
The jet engine got us long haul
And the advances to enable autonomous and varying degrees of electric flight will enable a step change in flight flexibility
Future Flight offers the opportunity to bring diverse consortia together, never worked with an airline here is your chance, always wanted to engage with a urban planner, this is your chance
Consortia in one aspect of aviation, eg all airlines, all airport, all manufacturers will struggle to succeed in Future Flight.
The consortia who are diverse tackling a mutually acknowledge challenge will succeed
But the scale is huge so some focus is needed
When considering the elements of your programme focusing on drones, passenger mobility or all electric programmes will focus the consortia to address specific aspects …… beyond visual line of sight, security, communication, infrastructure …
This slide aims to prompt organisations to consider already identified challenges and then to consider the challenge, the idea and a range of consortia members to work with across the aviation system