System and method for displaying predictive conformal configuration cues for executing a landing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9418561-B2
Application number	US-201414558067-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2014
Priority date	Dec 2, 2014
Publication date	Aug 16, 2016
Grant date	Aug 16, 2016

Abstract

A system and method for displaying predictive cues on an aircraft display system for executing a landing after an engine failure is provided. The system and method displays the cues for various aircraft configurations, and each cue is displayed in perspective (conformally) on a three dimensional graphical display of the surrounding terrain.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for displaying, on an avionics display system, cues for executing an aircraft landing after an engine failure, the method comprising:
receiving avionics data;
processing the avionics data to (i) determine a current aircraft configuration, (ii) predict a first landing site based on the current aircraft configuration, (iii) predict a second landing site associated with altering the current aircraft configuration; and
displaying a first cue representative of the first landing site and a second cue representative of the second landing site.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein altering the aircraft configuration comprises altering the lift-to-drag ratio.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein altering the lift-to-drag ratio comprises extending landing gear.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein altering the lift-to-drag ratio comprises extending landing gear and deploying flaps.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein altering the lift-to-drag ratio comprises deploying flaps.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein altering the lift-to-drag ratio comprises an aircraft maneuver.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of displaying a cue comprises rendering the cue in perspective form at its predicted location on the terrain.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of displaying further comprises displaying a chevron.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving user input data; and
altering, by a processor, aircraft configuration data according to the user input data.

10. An avionics display system comprising:
a flight deck display coupled to receive display commands and configured, upon receipt thereof, to render images; and
a processor operatively coupled to the flight deck display and adapted to receive avionics data, the processor configured, upon receipt of the avionics data, to:
(i) determine current aircraft configuration,
(ii) determine aircraft body mass acceleration,
(iii) predict a first landing site based on the current aircraft configuration,
(iv) predict a second landing site associated with an alternate aircraft configuration, and
(v) supply display commands to the flight deck display that cause the flight deck display to render a first cue representative of the first landing site and a second cue representative of the second landing site.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the alternate aircraft configuration comprises a modification in the lift-to-drag ratio.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the modification in the lift-to-drag ratio comprises extended landing gear.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the modification in the lift-to-drag ratio comprises extended landing gear and deployed flaps.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the modification in the lift-to-drag ratio comprises an aircraft maneuver.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the avionics display system comprises a synthetic vision display.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to display each cue at its predicted location in perspective form on the terrain.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein each cue is a chevron and each chevron is oriented to point at the associated predicted landing site.

18. A method for displaying, on an avionics display system, configuration cues for executing a single engine aircraft landing after engine failure, the method comprising:
receiving avionics data;
processing the avionics data to (i) determine the terrain, (ii) determine current aircraft lift-to-drag ratio, (iii) predict a first landing site based on the current aircraft lift-to-drag ratio, (iv) predict a second landing site associated with a first alteration in the aircraft lift-to-drag ratio, and (v) predict a third landing site associated with a second alteration in the aircraft lift-to-drag ratio; and
displaying (i) the terrain, (ii) a first cue representative of the first landing site, (iii) a second cue representative of the second landing site, and (iv) a third cue representative of the third landing site.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein displaying a cue comprises rendering the cue in perspective form at its predicted location on the terrain.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the avionics display system is a synthetic vision system.

Assignees

• Honeywell Int Inc

Inventors

• Gannon Aaron
• Wyatt Ivan Sandy
• Feyereisen Thea L

Classifications

• G08G5/54

  for approach or landing · CPC title

• G08G5/34

  for flight plan modification · CPC title

• G08G5/21

  located onboard the aircraft · CPC title

• G08G5/58

  for emergency situations, e.g. hijacking or bird strikes · CPC title

• G08G5/55 Primary

  for a single aircraft · CPC title