Data processing system for pre-planning the flight of an aircraft
First Claim
1. A data processing system for pre-planning the flight of an aircraft travelling along straight tracks between successive ones of a number of known selected turning points represented on a chart, which system includesa plotting board having a surface for receiving the chart, said plotting board including means for determining relative digital position coordinates of each selected turning point on said surface with respect to one another and to output signals indicating the relative digital position coordinates of each of the selected turning points,input means for deriving further signals defining at least one known parameter from the group comprising ground speed, bank angle, initial fuel load, and fuel consumption rate,calculating means responsive to the signals from the plotting means and to the further signals from the input means to calculate for each track between a pair of selected turning points at least one variable factor from the group comprising track heading, fuel remaining, expected time for the track between the pair of selected turning points and including means for calculating the expected total flight time using the individual expected time calculations arrived at for the plurality of tracks, andrecord means for providing a record of the parameters and the variable factors necessary to enable the aircraft to cover the planned route.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A data processing system for pre-planning the flight of an aircraft includes a plotting board arranged to supply position coordinates of selected points on a route to a processor. Other inputs to the processor provide details of known aircraft parameters such as speed, fuel load, fuel consumption and bank angle. The processor determines from these inputs for each leg of the flight variable factors such as track heading, flight time, fuel used and fuel remaining. The inputs and outputs of the processor are recorded on a suitable medium.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. A data processing system for pre-planning the flight of an aircraft travelling along straight tracks between successive ones of a number of known selected turning points represented on a chart, which system includes
a plotting board having a surface for receiving the chart, said plotting board including means for determining relative digital position coordinates of each selected turning point on said surface with respect to one another and to output signals indicating the relative digital position coordinates of each of the selected turning points, input means for deriving further signals defining at least one known parameter from the group comprising ground speed, bank angle, initial fuel load, and fuel consumption rate, calculating means responsive to the signals from the plotting means and to the further signals from the input means to calculate for each track between a pair of selected turning points at least one variable factor from the group comprising track heading, fuel remaining, expected time for the track between the pair of selected turning points and including means for calculating the expected total flight time using the individual expected time calculations arrived at for the plurality of tracks, and record means for providing a record of the parameters and the variable factors necessary to enable the aircraft to cover the planned route.
Specification