Method and system for aviation navigation
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for defining a flight path for an aircraft based on glide characteristics, the method performing computer-implemented operations comprising:
- receiving flight parameters comprising an origin, a destination, glide characteristics for an aircraft, and emergency landing area preferences including criteria for selection of acceptable emergency landing areas; and
determining a flight path between the origin and destination, the flight path calculated to maintain the aircraft within glide range of selected acceptable emergency landing areas located within a glide range indicated in the received glide characteristics and matching the emergency landing area preferences, wherein at least one of the selected acceptable emergency landing areas is not part of an airport;
wherein the selected acceptable emergency landing areas are chosen based at least in part on landing area classifications from a database of emergency landing areas and the received emergency landing area preferences.
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Abstract
A system operates to guide an aircraft to or along a route designed to maintain the aircraft within a safe glide distance of an acceptable emergency landing area. The system uses a database of emergency landing areas with glide characteristics of an aircraft to determine a route that minimizes travel time or other specified parameter, while keeping the aircraft within a safe glide distance of a landing area in the database meeting the landing requirements for the aircraft.
56 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for defining a flight path for an aircraft based on glide characteristics, the method performing computer-implemented operations comprising:
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receiving flight parameters comprising an origin, a destination, glide characteristics for an aircraft, and emergency landing area preferences including criteria for selection of acceptable emergency landing areas; and determining a flight path between the origin and destination, the flight path calculated to maintain the aircraft within glide range of selected acceptable emergency landing areas located within a glide range indicated in the received glide characteristics and matching the emergency landing area preferences, wherein at least one of the selected acceptable emergency landing areas is not part of an airport; wherein the selected acceptable emergency landing areas are chosen based at least in part on landing area classifications from a database of emergency landing areas and the received emergency landing area preferences. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for defining a flight path for an aircraft, the system comprising a computer operatively associated with a memory, the memory holding instructions for:
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receiving at least glide characteristics for an aircraft and emergency landing area preferences including a first percentage indicating a percentage of a flight path in which the aircraft should be within a glide range of any emergency landing area having a first landing area classification and a second percentage indicating a percentage of the flight path in which the aircraft may be within the glide range of any emergency landing area having a second landing area classification, wherein the first landing area classification includes airports and the second landing area classification does not include airports; and determining a flight path between an origin and a destination, the flight path calculated to maintain the aircraft within glide range of selected acceptable emergency landing areas from a database of emergency landing areas, including the requirement that the aircraft is within the glide range of emergency landing areas having the first landing area classification for at least the first percentage of the flight path and the aircraft is within the glide range of only emergency landing areas having the second landing area classification for no more than the second percentage of the flight path. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon configured for execution on a computing device in order to cause the computing device to:
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receive flight parameters comprising an origin, a destination, a maximum cruising altitude, a maximum airspeed, glide characteristics for an aircraft, and emergency landing area preferences including criteria for selection of acceptable emergency landing areas; and determine a flight path between the origin and destination, the flight path calculated to maintain the aircraft within a glide range indicated in the received glide characteristics of selected acceptable emergency landing areas matching the emergency landing area preferences along flight path, wherein at least one of the selected acceptable emergency landing areas is not part of an airport; wherein the at least one acceptable emergency landing area is selected based at least in part on a landing area classification from a database of emergency landing areas and the received emergency landing area preferences. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification