Software provider PACE has been selected by the CleanSky JTI consortium to develop a software tool for the design and analysis of innovative aircraft system architectures in the context of the Green Regional Aircraft program. The tool is to be based on the company's conceptual aircraft design platform Pacelab APD.

The design tool will support the definition and optimization of avionics and on-board general systems in terms of key criteria such as mass, volume, power demand and cost, while also assessing their impact on the vehicle's overall weight, energy use and performance. To facilitate the evaluation of alternative architectures, the software tool will incorporate simplified systems models and a detailed data base of conventional system technologies.

By integrating avionics and on-board systems into the aircraft design loop from the very start, the software will help the Green Regional Aircraft team develop an optimized regional airliner design that reduces perceived noise, fuel consumption as well as CO2 and NOx emissions.

The objective of the Green Regional Aircraft program is to validate and demonstrate the technologies best fitting the pollution and noise reduction goals set for regional aircraft entering the market in the 2020s. It is estimated that by then around 50% of all flights will be operated with regional carriers. The Green Regional Aircraft program is led by Finmeccanica company Alenia Aeronautica.

Alessandro Amendola, Alenia Aeronautica's Head of the CleanSky Unit, explains the committee's decision: "PACE was invited to join the Green Regional Aircraft program on the strength of its existing conceptual design platform. Pacelab APD provides all the advantages of a mature, field-proven product, yet its high scalability and extensibility gives us every option of shaping it to our task in hand."

"We feel privileged to be part of this unique research initiative. The program will strengthen the European technological leadership in advanced engineering tools and methods and firmly establish our company as a principal supplier of conceptual aircraft design tools," says Alexander Schneegans, co-founder and managing director of PACE.