SAFE-Lab
Sustainable Aviation Flight Experimental Laboratory
Worldwide aviation climate goals aim for climate neutral in 2050. The Sustainable Aviation Flight Experimental Laboratory is a unique research environment accelerating sustainable aviation solutions linking fundamental and applied research through groundbased testing and in-flight demonstration. It covers the complete innovation chain from design and development to certification and (flight)testing. It can be used for establishment of guidelines for hybrid/electric technology and other sustainable solutions on aircraft. And for strategies for refueling infrastructures. One lab with one vision will establish the Netherlands as European forerunner on key challenges in sustainable aviation and serves the Dutch aviation research/educational community.
Infrastructure and User Services
The unique feature of the Lab is connecting the two living laboratories at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, the current research aircraft Citation II (PH-LAB) and the Cessna Skymaster (N4207X), and the existing simulators SIMONA and the fixed base simulator at TU Delft, with a focus on sustainable aviation.
With the two flying testbeds we are able to cover both general aviation as well as specific innovations in the commercial aviation that demand higher and faster operations. The Lab consists of working stations for the research departments and test flight organization to modify, operate and maintain the flying testbeds. And to prepare the flight test plans and ensures safe operation. A construction lab to manufacture the modifications to the flying testbeds is foreseen.
Multiple flying testbeds will be necessary to be able to research and test innovative sustainable solutions from the range of low and slow flight. The specifications of the flying testbeds are complementary. They can be fully instrumented and computer equipped to perform a variety of research test flights on sustainable innovations, with a datalink to ground control rooms for real-time data access and control. The modifications will leverage existing flight test instrumentation expertise present at TU Delft. The research simulators will be used in the development and initial validation, in preparation for in-flight validation with actual flight tests.
This will enable research on verifying and quantifying the reduction on environmental impact and can be linked to the measurements of the Ruysdael observatory, CESAR and satellites.
Examples/description of the type of research
Within this framework the fundamental and applied research is divided in four aligned research programs and development areas:
- Sustainable solutions: Accelerate energy efficient propulsion system innovations in (general) aviation based on ground testing and in-flight demonstration.
- Implementation: Modification, Construction, Manufacturing, Maintenance, Certification, Airworthiness, Operation and Test Flights .
- Aircraft and environmental impact characteristics: Aerodynamics, Performance, Control, Handling Qualities, Propulsion, Noise, Emissions, and Contrails.
- Infrastructure: refueling, recharging or fuel cell replacement stations.
How to access the infrastructure?
The living lab has open access with a central point) that will process any request for use. The Scientific Board will assess the user requests based on the following metrics:
- Proven scientific quality and excellence, originality, ethics and relevance.
- Scientific connection/implementation within the research programs, and technical feasibility.
- The users' contribution/expertise complementarity to other initiatives.
For any user, there will be no entry fee, or membership fee, only project related costs: Operational flight costs, data systems or flight control system costs, modification and certification costs, and manpower to modify and maintain the testbed for the project. We follow the guidelines as described in the revised charter for access to research infrastructure