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FUTUREFLIGHT CENTRAL PROJECTS
DFW Airport Perimeter Taxiway (DAPT) Demonstration

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Introduction

In February 2003, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's (DFW) study of their perimeter taxiway concept culminated with a simultaneous real-time demonstration at NASA Ames FutureFlight Central and B747-400 simulators. In collaboration with NASA, the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center Simulation and Analysis Group provided the simulation design, data analysis, and technical report.

Aerial image of the proposed DFW perimater taxiway system
Aerial view of the proposed DFW perimeter taxiway system

Study Objectives:

DFW had three objectives to accomplish with its demonstration of the perimeter taxiway concept:
  • Gain the acceptance of the perimeter taxiway concept from the user community by providing the opportunity to observe and experience the proposed improvement first-hand
  • Collect and analyze the audio and surface data to derive descriptive statistics to understand the impact of perimeter taxiways
  • Create an informational video that includes interviews from the air traffic controller and pilot participants


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Demonstration Design:

Some of the key aspects of the demonstration are the following:
  • The FutureFlight tower cab was staffed with five FAA certified professional controllers from the DFW Tower
  • One CVSRF staff pilot and seven pilot representatives from the airlines flew the Boeing 747-400 simulator. Five of the seven pilots were active pilots with large, commercial aircraft experience.
  • East side DFW tower operations were simulated.
  • Two taxiway configurations were simulated for comparison:
    • Baseline, representing the current DFW configuration and operations
    • Perimeter Taxiways, including the proposed perimeter taxiways, extensions of Runways 17C and 18R, and the new high speed exits on 17C and 18R

Photo of view from NASA's FutureFlight Central control tower Photo of view from NASA's B747-400 flight simulator and pilot participants
Views from NASA's FutureFlight Central control tower and the B747-400 flight simulators.


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Customer Benefits:

DFW reduced the risk of unnecessary development costs by trying out the proposed perimeter taxiway design with the users before investing in expensive construction.

Combining the simulation capabilities of both FutureFlight and the CVSRF allowed both pilots and controllers to evaluate the proposed configuration.

Pilots in the cockpit simulator could view the proposed perimeter taxiway configuration from multiple viewpoints, representative of all flight operations, including areas of special concern.

DFW could try out the proposed configuration with traffic that anticipated future demand levels.

Tower controllers had the opportunity to refine the operational procedures for managing perimeter taxiway traffic.

Virtual reality provided a completely safe environment to test a proposed airport configuration.

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Customer Comments:

“The perimeter taxiway project has been a labor of love for ten years. However, DFW didn't have the tools to solve the critical question: how the changes would affect the operators. [The FutureFlight and CVSRF] system fills in a critical component.”

“After many years of careful planning and negotiations, it is truly gratifying to try out a virtual version of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport incorporating the proposed perimeter taxiways. But the real work is just beginning.”

-- Jim Crites, Executive Vice-President, Airport Operations, DFW


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Summary/Results:

Preliminary results indicated favorable support from the user community. Both pilots and controllers felt that adding perimeter taxiways would improve operations at DFW. Under the conditions simulated for the demonstration, perimeter taxiways eliminated an average of 147 runway crossings per hour.

For more information, please see: DFW Perimeter Taxiway report in PDF
1.77 MB
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Photograph of Pilot participants exiting the B-747-400 cockpit simulator
Pilot participants exiting the B-747-400 cockpit simulator

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Last Updated: September 13, 2017

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