Apparatus for determining the position of an aircraft with respect to the runway
First Claim
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1. Apparatus for determining the position of an airplane, having a groundspeed indicator, with respect to a runway comprising:
- means for determining the glidescope angle φ
of the plane with respect to the runway;
means for determining that the plane is a specified altitude A above the runway on said glideslope;
processing means including means for;
calculating the ground distance d of the airplane from the intersection of the glideslope with the runway from the equation d=A/tan φ
;
calculating the ground distance So of the airplane from the beginning of the runway during the instance of the airplane being at the altitude A from the equation So =d-D, where D is the predetermined distance from the beginning of the runway to the intersection of the glideslope with the runway;
integrating airplane ground speed to produce an indication of airplane relative position; and
updating said distance So by said relative position to produce a continuous indication S of the distance of the airplane from the beginning of the runway.
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Abstract
Upon landing approach to a runway, glideslope and altitude information is processed to produce an indication of ground distance to the touchdown point. Actual aircraft position is then determined by integrating the aircraft'"'"'s ground speed. A display of distance from the beginning and end of the runway is provided. An alert is produced if the aircraft approaches the end of the runway at excessive speed. Further, the system may be coupled to the aircraft'"'"'s autobrake system to automatically control the rate of deceleration.
60 Citations
8 Claims
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1. Apparatus for determining the position of an airplane, having a groundspeed indicator, with respect to a runway comprising:
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means for determining the glidescope angle φ
of the plane with respect to the runway;means for determining that the plane is a specified altitude A above the runway on said glideslope;
processing means including means for;calculating the ground distance d of the airplane from the intersection of the glideslope with the runway from the equation d=A/tan φ
;calculating the ground distance So of the airplane from the beginning of the runway during the instance of the airplane being at the altitude A from the equation So =d-D, where D is the predetermined distance from the beginning of the runway to the intersection of the glideslope with the runway; integrating airplane ground speed to produce an indication of airplane relative position; and updating said distance So by said relative position to produce a continuous indication S of the distance of the airplane from the beginning of the runway. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for determining the position of an airplane, having a groundspeed indicator, with respect to a runway comprising the steps of:
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determining the glideslope angle φ
of the plane with respect to the runway;determining that the plane is a specified altitude A above the runway on said glideslope; calculating the ground distance d of the airplane from the intersection of the glideslope with the runway from the equation d=A/tan φ
;calculating the ground distance So of the airplane from the beginning of the runway during the instance of the airplane being at the altitude A from the equation So =d-D, where D is the predetermined distance from the beginning of the runway to the intersection of the glideslope with the runway; integrating airplane ground speed to produce an indication of airplane relative position; and updating said distance So by said relative position to produce a continuous indication S of the distance of the airplane from the beginning of the runway. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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Specification