AIRCRAFT APPROACH GUIDE
First Claim
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1. A combination aircraft landing approach computer and flight profile monitor apparatus comprising:
- a substantially planar base member;
a substantially planar circular disc member rotatably attached to said base member, said base member oriented in a substantially overlying relationship with said disc member;
a plurality of margins on said disc member, said margins having data disposed thereon;
display means for graphically representing a flight profile of a glide path of an aircraft, said display means comprising graph means having a distance-to-threshold abscissa and an altitude ordinate and further having a plurality of glide slopes preplotted thereon;
first window means in said base member operable to expose a portion of a first margin of said disc member to provide an indication of a rate of descent functionally related to the ground speed of the aircraft;
glide slope scale means adjacent said first window means for providing a glide slope value corresponding to the rate of descent of the aircraft;
second window means in said base member operable to expose a portion of a second margin of said disc member to provide an indication of a distance to a preselected landing threshold;
time scale means adjacent said second window means for providing a range of time values corresponding to various distances to the landing threshold;
third window means in said base member operable to expose a portion of a third margin of said disc member to provide a display of a preselected ground speed value;
means for rotating said disc member to display the ground speed of the aircraft in said third window means and to simultaneously display a descent rate in said first window means and a distance to threshold in said second window means; and
said disc member and said base member being cooperable to functionally relate a preselected ground speed to descent rate, glide slope, time to threshold, distance to threshold, and altitude, and to provide a graphical display of a projected flight profile of an aircraft on a glide path observing said functional relationship for monitoring the descent of an aircraft on the glide path.
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Abstract
A landing approach computer is disclosed which allows computation of landing approach data in relation to ground speed. The computer is cooperable with a grid which provides a profile display of a glide path which is related to the data obtainable from the computer. Both the computer and the grid are cooperable over an infinite range of parameters.
16 Citations
4 Claims
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1. A combination aircraft landing approach computer and flight profile monitor apparatus comprising:
- a substantially planar base member;
a substantially planar circular disc member rotatably attached to said base member, said base member oriented in a substantially overlying relationship with said disc member;
a plurality of margins on said disc member, said margins having data disposed thereon;
display means for graphically representing a flight profile of a glide path of an aircraft, said display means comprising graph means having a distance-to-threshold abscissa and an altitude ordinate and further having a plurality of glide slopes preplotted thereon;
first window means in said base member operable to expose a portion of a first margin of said disc member to provide an indication of a rate of descent functionally related to the ground speed of the aircraft;
glide slope scale means adjacent said first window means for providing a glide slope value corresponding to the rate of descent of the aircraft;
second window means in said base member operable to expose a portion of a second margin of said disc member to provide an indication of a distance to a preselected landing threshold;
time scale means adjacent said second window means for providing a range of time values corresponding to various distances to the landing threshold;
third window means in said base member operable to expose a portion of a third margin of said disc member to provide a display of a preselected ground speed value;
means for rotating said disc member to display the ground speed of the aircraft in said third window means and to simultaneously display a descent rate in said first window means and a distance to threshold in said second window means; and
said disc member and said base member being cooperable to functionally relate a preselected ground speed to descent rate, glide slope, time to threshold, distance to threshold, and altitude, and to provide a graphical display of a projected flight profile of an aircraft on a glide path observing said functional relationship for monitoring the descent of an aircraft on the glide path.
- a substantially planar base member;
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2. A landing approach computer apparatus for an aircraft, said apparatus comprising:
- a base member;
a movable member movably connected with said base member;
first display means including descent rate data indicating means carried by one of said base and movable members, and glide slope data indicating means carried by the other of said base and movable members, said descent rate data indicating means and said glide slope data indicating means being generally contiguously and relatively movably arranged and operable to display a particular descent rate of an aircraft in alignment with a particular glide slope of said aircraft, with reference to a particular ground speed of said aircraft;
second display means including distance data indicating means carried by one of said base and movable members, and time data indicating means carried by the other of said base and movable members, said distance data indicating means and said time data indicating means being generally contiguously and relatively movably arranged and operable to display a particular distance from said aircraft to a location in alignment with a particular time required for said aircraft to reach said location with reference to a particular ground speed of said aircraft;
third display means including ground speed data indicating means carried by one of said base and movable members, reference means carried by the other of said base and movable members, said ground speed data indicating means and said reference means being generally contiguously and relatively movably arranged and operable to selectively display a particular ground speed of said aircraft in alignment with said reference means; and
means for efFecting relative movement of said movable member and said base member and concurrently effect relative movement between said ground speed data indicating means and said reference means operable to bring a preselected, particular ground speed into alignment with said reference means in said third display means, effect relative movement between said descent rate data indicating means and said glide slope data indicating means operable to bring a said particular descent rate into alignment with a said particular glide slope in said first display means, in relation to said preselected, particular ground speed, and effect relative movement between said distance data indicating means and said time data indicating means operable to bring a said particular distance to said location into alignment with a said particular time required to reach said location in said second display means, in relation to said preselected, particular ground speed;
said first, second, and third display means being cooperable to concurrently, selectively, and visually display mutually correlated data relating to a particular aircraft landing approach including an indication of ground speed of said aircraft, an indication of a time required for said aircraft to reach said objective, an indication of a distance between said aircraft and said objective, an indication of a descent rate for said aircraft, and an indication of a glide slope for said aircraft.
- a base member;
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3. A landing approach computer apparatus for an aircraft, said apparatus comprising:
- a base member;
a movable member movably connected with said base member;
first display means including descent rate data indicating means carried by one of said base and movable members, and glide slope data indicating means carried by the other of said base and movable members, said descent rate data indicating means and said glide slope data indicating means being generally contiguously and relatively movably arranged and operable to display a particular descent rate of an aircraft in alignment with a particular glide slope of said aircraft, with reference to a particular ground speed of said aircraft;
second display means including distance data indicating means carried by one of said base and movable members, and time data indicating means carried by the other of said base and movable members, said distance data indicating means and said time data indicating means being generally contiguously and relatively movably arranged and operable to display a particular distance from said aircraft to a location in alignment with a particular time required for said aircraft to reach said location with reference to a particular ground speed of said aircraft;
third display means including ground speed data indicating means carried by one of said base and movable members, reference means carried by the other of said base and movable members, said ground speed data indicating means and said reference means being generally contiguously and relatively movably arranged and operable to selectively display a particular ground speed of said aircraft in alignment with said reference means;
means for effecting relative movement of said movable member and said base member and concurrently effect relative movement between said ground speed data indicating means and said reference means operable to bring a preselected, particular ground speed into alignment with said reference means in said third display means, effect relative movement between said descent rate data indicating means and said glide slope data indicating means operable to bring a said particular descent rate into alignment with a said particular glide slope in said first display means, in relation to said preselected, particular ground speed, and effect relative movement between said distance data indicating means and said time data indicating means operable to bring a said particular distAnce to said location into alignment with a said particular time required to reach said location in said second display means, in relation to said preselected, particular ground speed; and
fourth display means including flight profile means carried by one of said base and movable members and operable to display an indication of a flight profile, generally reflective of a particular glide slope relating to data displayed by said second display means, and data relating to altitude of said aircraft;
said first, second, third, and fourth display means being cooperable to concurrently, selectively, and visually display mutually correlated data relating to a particular aircraft landing approach including an indication of a profile for said aircraft, an indication of ground speed of said aircraft, an indication of a time required for said aircraft to reach said objective, an indication of a distance between said aircraft and said objective, an indication of a descent rate for said aircraft, and an indication of a glide slope for said aircraft.
- a base member;
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4. A landing approach computer apparatus for an aircraft, said apparatus comprising:
- a base member;
a rotatable member rotatably connected with said base member;
first display means including descent rate data indicating means carried by one of said base and rotatable members, and glide slope data indicating means carried by the other of said base and rotatable members, said descent rate data indicating means and said glide slope data indicating means being generally contiguously and relatively movably arranged and operable to display a particular descent rate of an aircraft in alignment with a particular glide slope of said aircraft, with reference to a particular ground speed of said aircraft;
second display means including distance data indicating means carried by one of said base and rotatable members, and time data indicating means carried by the other of said base and rotatable members, said distance data indicating means and said time data indicating means being generally contiguously and relatively movably arranged and operable to display a particular distance from said aircraft to a location in alignment with a particular time required for said aircraft to reach said location with reference to a particular ground speed of said aircraft;
third display means including ground speed data indicating means carried by one of said base and rotatable members, reference means carried by the other of said base and rotatable members, said ground speed data indicating means and said reference means being generally contiguously and relatively movably arranged and operable to selectively display a particular ground speed of said aircraft in alignment with said reference means;
means for effecting relative rotational movement of said rotatable member and said base member and concurrently effect relative movement between said ground speed data indicating means and said reference means operable to bring a preselected, particular ground speed into alignment with said reference means in said third display means, effect relative movement between said descent rate data indicating means and said glide slope data indicating means operable to bring a said particular descent rate into alignment with a said particular glide slope in said first display means, in relation to said preselected, particular ground speed, and effect relative movement between said distance data indicating means and said time data indicating means operable to bring a said particular distance to said location into alignment with a said particular time required to reach said location in said second display means, in relation to said preselected, particular ground speed; and
fourth display means including flight profile means carried by one of said base and rotatable members and operable to display an indication of a flight prOfile, generally reflective of a particular glide slope relating to data displayed by said second display means, and data relating to altitude of said aircraft;
said first, second, third, and fourth display means being cooperable to concurrently, selectively, and visually display mutually correlated data relating to a particular aircraft landing approach including an indication of a profile for said aircraft, an indication of ground speed of said aircraft, an indication of a time required for said aircraft to reach said objective, an indication of a distance between said aircraft and said objective, an indication of a descent rate for said aircraft, and an indication of a glide slope for said aircraft.
- a base member;
Specification