Rejoining trajectory adjustment method for aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10854094-B2
Application number	US-201815919630-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2018
Priority date	Mar 21, 2017
Publication date	Dec 1, 2020
Grant date	Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

A method is provided for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory of an aircraft, the method being implemented in a flight management system of the aircraft. In a first step, the rejoining trajectory comprises a guidance setpoint holding point to be reached situated in the extension of a guidance setpoint, and set manually or automatically, the guidance setpoint no longer being necessarily maintained when this setpoint holding point is passed. This first step can be preceded by a step of rejoining a guidance setpoint or a step of searching for the intersection of the current guidance setpoint trajectory with a segment of the flight plan.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory of an aircraft, said method being implemented in a flight management system of said aircraft, the method comprising:
in a first step, adjusting a rejoining trajectory such that the rejoining trajectory comprises a guidance setpoint holding point to be reached situated in an extension of a guidance setpoint, said guidance setpoint not belonging to the flight plan, said guidance setpoint holding point corresponding to a geographic point along the guidance setpoint, said geographic point being defined by a distance, by a time duration, by an altitude variation, or by an altitude to be reached,
wherein the guidance setpoint no longer being maintained when the setpoint holding point is passed; and
wherein from the guidance setpoint holding point, the rejoining trajectory is computed in such a way that said rejoining trajectory returns to a waypoint of the flight plan as early as possible.

2. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 1 , wherein the guidance setpoint holding point is adjusted manually by an operator as a function of a piloting or navigation constraint.

3. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 1 , wherein, when, given a piloting or navigation constraint, a trajectory length is inappropriate to observe said constraint by following the trajectory using a current guidance setpoint holding point, the first step is preceded by a preliminary step of resolution of said constraint, the guidance setpoint holding point being adjusted automatically.

4. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 1 , wherein the first step is preceded by a rejoining trajectory of a guidance setpoint.

5. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 1 , wherein the first step is preceded by a step of searching for the intersection of a current guidance setpoint trajectory with a segment of the flight plan.

6. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 1 , wherein the guidance setpoint is a heading setpoint.

7. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 6 , wherein said step of rejoining a setpoint heading comprises a set of straight or curved segments followed by the straight holding segment of the heading setpoint.

8. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 6 , wherein said step of rejoining a setpoint heading comprises at least three segments, an aircraft roll segment, a curved turn segment between the current heading followed by the aircraft and the setpoint heading and a rectilinear segment according to the setpoint heading.

9. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 6 , wherein the setpoint heading is adjusted manually by an operator or automatically as a function of a navigation distance constraint.

10. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 6 , wherein, a segment of the flight plan being determined, the rejoining trajectory comprises two successive changes of heading, the first making it possible to switch from a setpoint heading to a capture heading and a second change of heading making it possible to switch from the capture heading to the heading of the segment of the flight plan.

11. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 6 , wherein, once the setpoint holding point is reached along the setpoint heading, the rejoining trajectory consists in directly rejoining a designated point of the flight plan.

12. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 1 , wherein the guidance setpoint is a vertical slope setpoint.

13. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 1 , wherein the guidance setpoint is a longitudinal speed setpoint.

14. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 1 , wherein the guidance setpoint is a vertical speed setpoint.

15. The method for adjusting a flight plan rejoining trajectory according to claim 1 , wherein a portion of the flight plan towards which the rejoining trajectory is computed is determined automatically or manually.

Assignees

• Thales Sa

Inventors

• Dacre-Wright Benoit
• Poisson Didier
• Deker Guy
• Savarit Vincent

Classifications

• G08G5/55

  for a single aircraft · CPC title

• G08G5/53

  for cruising · CPC title

• G08G5/21

  located onboard the aircraft · CPC title

• G08G5/34 Primary

  for flight plan modification · CPC title

• G05D1/0607

  specially adapted for aircraft · CPC title