Alternate destination predictor for aircraft
First Claim
1. A method of providing a pilot of an aircraft with information regarding a plurality of alternate landing destinations where the aircraft can be landed, comprising the steps of:
- searching a navigational database for locations of alternate landing destinations nearest the aircraft'"'"'s present position, said nearest alternate landing destinations forming said plurality of alternate landing destinations;
determining a distance between the aircraft'"'"'s present position and the position of each of the alternate landing destinations;
determining a flight plan from the aircraft'"'"'s present position to each of the alternate landing destinations, the flight plan including a trip altitude at which to fly to each of the alternate landingdestinations, an optimum climb angle to the trip altitude, a cruise segment at the trip altitude and an optimum descent angle from the trip altitude to the alternate landing destinations;
determining the time of arrival to fly to each of the alternate landing destinations; and
determining an amount of fuel remaining on the aircraft if the aircraft were to land at each of the alternate destinations by performing the steps of;
estimating a top of descent point in the flight plan to the alternate landing destination;
determining an amount of fuel required to fly from the aircraft'"'"'s present position to the top of descent point in the flight plan;
determining an estimate of the amount of fuel remaining on board the aircraft at the alternate landing destination;
performing a forward determination an amount of fuel remaining at the top of descent point by determining the amount of fuel required to fly the present position of the aircraft to the estimated top of descent point;
performing a backward determination of the amount of fuel remaining at the top of descent point by determining an amount of fuel required to fly from the top of descent point to the alternate landing destination plus the initial estimate of fuel remaining at the alternate landing destination;
comparing the amount of fuel remaining at the top of descent point calculated by the forward and backward determination; and
revising the estimate of the top of descent point and fuel remaining at the alternate landing destination as a result of the comparison;
displaying the alternate landing destinations to the pilot, as well as the distance to each of the alternate landing destinations, the estimated time of arrival at each of the alternate destinations, and the amount of fuel remaining if the aircraft were flown from its present position to each of the alternate landing destinations.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a flight management computer modification that provides a pilot of an aircraft with a list of alternate landing destinations at which he can land the aircraft in case of an emergency on board or due to some reason why he cannot land at an intended destination. Each of the alternate landing destinations is displayed with data regarding the distance between the aircraft'"'"'s present position and each of the alternate destinations, the estimated time of arrival to fly the aircraft to each of the alternate destinations and an estimate of the fuel remaining on board the aircraft if the aircraft were to land at the alternate destinations. The data allows the pilot to compare the benefits of landing at one of the alternate destinations versus landing at another. The dam is calculated assuming a direct flight from the aircraft'"'"'s present position to the alternate as well as assuming a missed approach at the intended destination and a flight from the intended destination to the alternate landing destination. The computational time required to produce the data for the pilot is minimized by increasing the size of the integration steps used by the flight management computer to calculate estimated time of arrival and fuel remaining and by using the flight management computer'"'"'s precalculated values for optimum climb and descent angles.
108 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A method of providing a pilot of an aircraft with information regarding a plurality of alternate landing destinations where the aircraft can be landed, comprising the steps of:
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searching a navigational database for locations of alternate landing destinations nearest the aircraft'"'"'s present position, said nearest alternate landing destinations forming said plurality of alternate landing destinations; determining a distance between the aircraft'"'"'s present position and the position of each of the alternate landing destinations; determining a flight plan from the aircraft'"'"'s present position to each of the alternate landing destinations, the flight plan including a trip altitude at which to fly to each of the alternate landing destinations, an optimum climb angle to the trip altitude, a cruise segment at the trip altitude and an optimum descent angle from the trip altitude to the alternate landing destinations; determining the time of arrival to fly to each of the alternate landing destinations; and determining an amount of fuel remaining on the aircraft if the aircraft were to land at each of the alternate destinations by performing the steps of; estimating a top of descent point in the flight plan to the alternate landing destination; determining an amount of fuel required to fly from the aircraft'"'"'s present position to the top of descent point in the flight plan; determining an estimate of the amount of fuel remaining on board the aircraft at the alternate landing destination; performing a forward determination an amount of fuel remaining at the top of descent point by determining the amount of fuel required to fly the present position of the aircraft to the estimated top of descent point; performing a backward determination of the amount of fuel remaining at the top of descent point by determining an amount of fuel required to fly from the top of descent point to the alternate landing destination plus the initial estimate of fuel remaining at the alternate landing destination; comparing the amount of fuel remaining at the top of descent point calculated by the forward and backward determination; and revising the estimate of the top of descent point and fuel remaining at the alternate landing destination as a result of the comparison; displaying the alternate landing destinations to the pilot, as well as the distance to each of the alternate landing destinations, the estimated time of arrival at each of the alternate destinations, and the amount of fuel remaining if the aircraft were flown from its present position to each of the alternate landing destinations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification