G - 35 Committee Examining M&S for Emerging Concepts

• Exploring modeling and simulation for credit toward certification in lieu of flight testing

• Using A/M/V/XR to qualify FSTDs for pilot certification

• Considering SVO and performance-based CBTA pilot/aviation qualification process

The ‘G-35’ – SAE International’s new standards committee for Modeling, Simulation and Training (MST) for New Emerging Technologies and Concepts – will meet as a full body 7-8 June at CAE’s training center at the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas airport. The committee was launched last September to develop consensus-based standards for implementing advance technologies such as eVTOL while maintaining and enhancing safety.

“This is one of the most exciting times in aviation since the advent of the jet engine,” said Marilyn Pearson, Global Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Advanced Air Mobility and eVTOL at CAE, and Co-Chair of the G-35. “With new technologies and designs rapidly influencing the way we view transportation, and with a mushrooming of new entrants, there is a critical need to lower the barriers to entry without compromising aviation safety.” 

Fellow Co-Chair, Dr. Andreas Schweiger, System Architect at Airbus Defense and Space, said, “New technologies, like artificial intelligence, model-based systems and software engineering, open up fascinating possibilities regarding the future of flying platforms and enhancements.” 

“Until now,” Schweiger noted, “only separate standards documents exist or are under development. There is a need for them to be aligned with each other to make the best use of new technologies, and SAE International’s new technical committee will fill this important this gap.”

G-35 global contributors represent, thus far: A3 Aeroconsult, Airbus, Beta Technologies, Boeing, CAE, Cittadellascienza, Collins Aerospace, EASA, Embraer, FAA, FlightSafety International, GAMA, HAI, Infosys, J2 Aircraft Dynamics, Joby Aviation, Leonardo, Lilium Aviation, Lockheed Martin, NASA, NCAR, Overair, Politecnico di Milano, SAE ITC, Supernal, TCCA, Textron, US DOT, Vertical Aerospace, VFS, and Volocopter.

David Alexander, Director of Aerospace Standards at SAE International, said, “This important new SAE standards committee brings together stakeholders from across the aviation ecosystem to work on an important set of standards that will facilitate the evolution of modeling and simulation in aviation, including training of personnel and autonomous operations of aircraft, and provide guidance in support of demonstrating compliance to applicable regulations.”

The committee’s stated mission is to “recommend one set of industry consensus standards for implementation across regulatory organizations to qualify models, simulation devices, pilots/aviators and training devices for reducing the flight-testing effort. The recommended standards will connect training requirements to training device fidelity levels using ICAO competency-based training and assessment (CBTA), and training needs analysis (TNA) for new and emerging technologies.

The G-35 is focused on developing standards for:

• Model-based certification of current and future (AAM/VTOL/SVO variant) aircraft,
• Model-based certification for new and supplemental systems,
• Qualification methods for validating simulations, 
• Modeling- and simulation-tool qualification for certification credit, and
• Model- and simulation-based training of pilots/aviators, operations personnel, and automated systems.

“The standards developed by the committee will help the industry deal with the regulatory framework in an efficient and cost-effective manner,” said CAE’s Pearson. “By leveling the playing field worldwide for all sectors of the aviation industry, the work of MST will help reduce the time and cost of certification.”

Sub-committees of the G-35 have been meeting monthly and even bi-weekly since early this year to discuss the use of M&S to support certification and credit for aircraft and training of the pilot/aviator; guidelines for the use of digital twins and virtualization technologies for the development, and verification and validation, of the integrated virtual aircraft; and consensus standards for flight simulation training device certification using M&S and certification of AAM pilots/aviators utilizing performance-based modules and automation to develop criteria for exemptions leading to codification.

The technical reports developed by the SAE G-35 Committee will complement the work of other committees under the jurisdiction of the SAE Aerospace Council and SAE ITC ARINC IA Flight Simulator Engineering and Maintenance Committee (FSEMC), will be supported by the SAE Digital and Data Steering Group, and will liaise with relevant industry groups such as GAMA SVO and VFS Flight Test Council.