Flightplans

A Flightplan is a way of representing our intended flight routing in Via. The flightplan describes where and when we intend to fly. The routing then has to be checked against a number of risk variables and operational restrictions, including the planned Flightplans of other aircraft. There are also regulatory requirements that need to be adhered to. The Specific Operations Risk Assessment, or SORA, is one of the most significant of these regulatory requirements. Via has optional functionality, that allows the user to check plan Flightplans based on any combination of risk, operational restrictions and SORA requirements.

Waypoints

The Flightplan is defined by a series of waypoints. A waypoint is a 3 - Dimensional (3D) point in space, defined in Via as a latitude, a longitude and a vertical component. As well as positional data, each waypoint also contains operational parameters which describe how the section between waypoints will be flown. These operational parameters generally reflect the capabilities of the aircraft used, the accuracy of positional sensors and any other operational considerations. Importantly, Via considers a step change in these parameters at each Waypoint.

States

A Flightplan can be any of the three following states, ‘Draft’, ‘Accepted’ or ‘Closed’:

• Draft - This state allows experimentation and simultaneous planning of multiple flights without impacting the rest of the system. Unauthorised routing or deconfliction will show up in red in the WebApp. The Flightplan cannot be submitted until these are resolved.
• Accepted - After pressing ‘Submit’ (WebApp) the Flightplan is assessed and if acceptable, will be validated as deconflicted and regulatory compliant dependant on which checking functions are active. Any subsequent Flightplans will be deconflicted against this Flightplan and its associated volumes.
• Closed - The Flightplan is no longer valid and cannot be modified or submitted for accepted state.

Operational Intent Volumes (OIVs)

Via ultimately uses a Flightplan and it’s Waypoints to generate 4-Dimensional (4D) Volumes known as OIVs. The fourth dimension is time. A Flightplan is made up of sequential OIVs and provide a way to assess whether other aircraft are planning to occupy the same airspace at any given time or, within any given time range. The Flightplan is therefore made up of a sequence of OIVs which are either “active” or available to fly through.

The Flightplan does not directly correspond to the waypoints, but the waypoints are contained within the OIVs. The size, shape and temporal length of the OIVs are generated around the size and performance characteristics of the type of aircraft.