High-fives and bursts of excitement filled several laboratories across the FAA on September 28^th, 2023, when technicians, air traffic controllers, pilots, researchers, instructors, and engineers realized a long-awaited common goal: the interconnecting of several Academy training systems and specialized tools to create a functional miniature National Airspace System (NAS). The vision brought together several multi-faceted teams from four major FAA entities and one industry partner: organizations from the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC/AFN), the William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC-ANG), Aviation Safety (AVS), Air Traffic Organization (AJO), and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO).

The result of this key collaboration will first and foremost benefit the FAA Academy and the entire FAA training enterprise, expanding training capabilities to address the increasing complexity of air traffic management with emerging aviation technologies such as Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Advance Air Mobility (AAM). This functioning miniature NAS will also benefit numerous other missions across the FAA including research, engineering, acquisition, and aviation safety, as well as other government agencies.

The extensive infrastructure at the MMAC enables the FAA Academy to use actual NAS system replicas in training with multiple instances of nearly all the systems in use in the National Air Space. As our National Airspace evolves with emerging technologies, so too must our training environment evolve. The creation of this mini-NAS will broaden the training capabilities of the FAA Academy to create more complex scenarios and environments that will parallel the rapidly evolving air traffic management requirements necessary for safely integrating new entrants into the NAS.

So, what have the efforts to date yielded so far? There have been several ’ah-ha’ moments, but to summarize, this major milestone enabled the integration of five powerful tools at the FAA Academy:

• Dynamic Simulation (DYSIM); The DYSIM was developed and supported by JVN Communications. The tool's purpose is to process live surveillance and non-surveillance data to allow manipulation and dynamic takeover of targets whether they are live or simulated. Manipulated targets can be sent to the air traffic control (ATC) system with non-manipulated live or simulated traffic, and in this case, it was both. This tool was used to integrate the CNO’s UAS Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations at the Daisy Ranch in southeast Oklahoma, allowing these operations to be viewed on the Academy’s automation training systems, including the Enroute Automation Modernization (ERAM) and the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS). This integration helps to establish UAS air routes and ultimately, AAM air routes into the MMAC from the Choctaw Nation and other parts of the state.


(L-R) Tony Darnell, AMA, and Bruce Fisher, JVN Communications view the UAS Operations on DYSIM



UAS Operations as seen at the Daisy Ranch by Marcus Hartman, CNO



• Full Motion Cockpit Simulator (FMCS), The FMCS belongs to the Flight Standards Service (AFS)organization. This simulator is a Level D, meaning it is the most sophisticated simulator available and has the most requirements, including six degrees of motion, realistic cockpit sounds, and visual capabilities. In short, these simulators are some of the best in the world. The ability to fly the FMCS through the Academy’s automation systems, which are conveniently located right next door to the simulators, provides an ability to quickly test and validate research questions and other simulated results, with support from ATC experts, provided by the Academy’s AT supervisory staff, the possibilities for the future are brighter than ever.


Scott Stevenson, an AFS-430 Pilot flies through the Academy’s OKC and ZFW airspace.



Roger Smith, AMA-511B, an En Route Air Traffic Controller in the ERAM Lab talks to the full motion cockpit simulator pilot through a system known as VOISUS (a voice-over IP application) supported by Nicolas Roselli, ANG-E161.



• The Target Generation Facility (TGF). The TGF was designed and built by the WJHTC, and a copy was provided to the MMAC just prior to the global health crisis as part of a resource-sharing initiative between the two Centers that began back in 2015 and has been beyond fruitful. The TGF allows for the ERAM and STARS automation environments to be synchronized to use a single shared scenario that generates radar targets and provides the necessary software to interface with the FMCS, as well as other simulations. These two elements are combined with the UAS operations from the Choctaw Nation’s Daisy Ranch in southeastern Oklahoma through the DYSIM integration and passed onto the automation systems in a format that can be utilized. The Target Generation Facility has seemingly unlimited possibilities, and the FAA Academy team had the opportunity to work closely with the ANG-E16 Laboratory Services Team during this demonstration, with some hands-on experience. The TGF has precise detail capabilities and can be configured to include the exact Airport ground configuration and can even track the taxi of the aircraft to the runway and throughout the flight. This can be seen below in Figure 6.


John Hameier, ANG-E16 Operates the TGF. TCW display shown upper right.



TGF video clip of the FMCS AAL1651 taxiing at the KOKC Airport emulation.






Arthur Busick and Steve Knecht, AMA-920 Operate the EIZO tools, demonstrating the ability to see both ERAM and STARS displays side by side in a single location in the Systems Training Building.



• EIZO Safeguard Server. This tool allows for the remote viewing and recording of the activities taking place on the ERAM R-Display for the first time. This capability has been available on the STARS TCW displays for a few years and is used to capture full-resolution screenshots for the development of training materials. Now you can see them side by side through the functionality of this tool, as depicted below.

There is only one more hurdle preventing the final piece of construction of the fully functional Mini-NAS that brings with it the highest fidelity training environment ever conceived. The final connections are in place and are easy enough to complete physically, but execution will require further collaboration and consensus across organizations including the FAA Academy (AMA), the Office of Safety and Technical Training (AJI), and the Program Management Organization (AJM). The results of the exercises to date not only demonstrated the capabilities of a mini-NAS, but as an added benefit these results also exposed opportunities for improvement with the existing ERAM training environment. The functioning mini-NAS environment identified key elements that are missing from the current training including altimeter information, integrated weather information, and data comm functionality – all needed to truly replicate the field environment that the training seeks to emulate.

The end goal of a fully functioning mini-NAS is obtainable and once completed the FAA Academy will have the highest fidelity training system in the entire world! A training system such as this could not be produced anywhere else, as the FAA Academy uses actual NAS system replicas in training and has multiple instances of nearly all the systems in use in the National Air Space. The fact that it is all located in one place, at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center makes it possible to create an ideal holistic training environment. To assemble this cadre of equipment elsewhere would be cost-prohibitive based on the equipment alone, but the expertise, the equipment, and the infrastructure are also readily available at the Center allowing the FAA to get the most value from an investment that already exists as we move forward with new integrations such as AAM and the Info-centric NAS initiatives, not to mention Trajectory Based Operation (TBO) services. In fact, much of the credit for the vision of the mini-NAS belongs to Pamela Whitley, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) when she presented the concept at the Verification and Validation Summit in 2016. She identified the need for students to be trained in an immersive environment like they will experience when they return to their duty locations.

The completion of the Mini-NAS will represent the pinnacle of years of hard work, collaboration, and targeted investments that complement and improve the existing infrastructure that supports the FAA’s technical training mission. The benefits are far-reaching, extending to the entire agency and beyond, creating a dynamic test bed with the ability to identify problems before the most critical part of system acquisitions, the deployment period.

When completed, the Mini-NAS will save money, and greatly reduce risks to the operational NAS while paving the way for new integrations into our National Aerospace System. Innovative aerospace technologies are already on the horizon, and the benefits of creating a fully functioning Mini-NAS make good business sense and good government sense.

Thomas Edison once said that "many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up", this is not likely to be the case for this collaborative and dedicated team of FAA professionals.

Key Contributors to the Mini-NAS Integration Exercise:

AFN: ATC-Terminal & En Route/ Electronic Technicians
Kyle Jentho, Roger J. Smith, Steve Knecht, Arthur Busick, James R. Powell, Jason Blough, Elizabeth Waddle, and Doug Ball.

ANG: Computer Scientist/ Software Design Engineer/Electronics Engineer
David Lonkart, John Hameier, Timothy Swantek, Theresa McKinley, and Nicolas Roselli.

AVS: Pilot/ Aviation Safety Inspector/ Electronics Technician/ Aviation Tech Sys Spec
Scott Stevenson, Randall Cooper, Brian Baker, and Douglas Rodzon.

AJO: ATSS/ Systems Engineer
Douglas Young, Bruce Fisher, Troy Clifford, and Randy Kleinschmidt.