The Surface Operations Research and Evaluation Vehicle (SOREV): A Testbed for HSCT Taxi Issues

The High Speed Research (HSR) Program is a joint research effort involving NASA and aerospace industry partners. The purpose of the program is to examine and resolve technical issues associated with the design and development of the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). One critical research domain in the Flight Deck element of this program deals with the development of viable concepts for an eXternal Visibility System (XVS); the XVS would enable a flight deck architecture without forwardlooking windows. In order to examine XVS issues specific to taxi operations, HSR researchers are utilizing a specialized test vehicle: the Surface Operations Research and Evaluation Vehicle (SOREV). In this paper, the challenges of HSCT taxi operations and the research capabilities of the SOREV are discussed.