Technical Paper
Support of Helicopter “Free-Flight” Operations in the 1996 Olympics
1996-10-01
965632
“Operation Heli-STAR” (Helicopter Short-haul Transportation and Aviation Research) “An Olympic Moment” The microcosm of activity surrounding the 1996 Olympic Games provided researchers an opportunity for demonstrating state-of-the art technology in the first large-scale deployment of a prototype digital communication/ navigation/ surveillance system in a confined environment. At the same time it provided an ideal opportunity for transportation officials to showcase the merits of an integrated transportation system in meeting the operational needs to transport time sensitive goods and provide public safety services under a real-world conditions. Five aeronautical CNS functions using a digital datalink system were chosen for operational flight testing onboard 91 aircraft, most of them helicopters, participating in the Atlanta Short-Haul Transportation System.
