James O'Doherty-Jennings • 04.03.25 • 3 min read

The ATI Toolkit offers a variety of tools which are IP-neutral and open-access to companies contributing to the UK aerospace Sector. Recent updates to the ATI Toolkit have enhanced its capability. James O’Doherty-Jennings, Advanced Technologist – Whole Aircraft, explains the changes in our latest blog.

The Fixed Trade Calculator is now called the Aircraft Trade Calculator. The Aircraft Trade Calculator now provides access to both fixed and flexible models, so that companies who are targeting innovation on the next generation of aircraft may demonstrate the benefits of their technology on retrofit and clean sheet applications respectively.

The fixed model allowed users to assess the impact of changes in mass, drag or specific fuel consumption of a specific technology on a fixed airframe (e.g. a technology being retrofitted to an existing aircraft design). Greater benefits of the technology may be calculated when a new technology is considered at the outset of an aircraft design. This is due to the inherent design spirals within aircraft design. Aircraft designs which account for the design spirals when looking at input changes are called flexible models.

The user guides for the Aircraft Trade Calculator have been updated to cover fixed vs flexible model use, but keeps a user interface that will feel familiar to existing ATI Toolkit users.

The Reference Model Library now includes versions of the FlyZero aircraft concepts. These aircraft concepts were generated by the ATI-led FlyZero project which successfully set ambition in the aerospace industry for zero-carbon air transport and helped to define aircraft level requirements for various zero-carbon systems. The aircraft concepts are powered by liquid hydrogen and use ambitious technology targets to achieve zero-carbon flight. In the reference aircraft models, detail beyond the original FlyZero reports is released, allowing users to recreate the concepts in their own tools. With the release of these models, the ATI hopes the industry will continue to drive forward collaboration in the research of zero-carbon flight. The FlyZero models are now also available as fixed trade models in the Aircraft Trade Calculator.

If you’d like to find out more about the ATI Toolkit, join our free online clinic on Monday 24th March where you can hear from James and Mutinda Musuva, Strategy Analyst, and ask your questions. Click here for more details. This clinic is suitable for organisations considering applying for funding through the ATI Programme as well as those looking to develop business cases for aerospace technologies and products .