Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
701018000 | Profile of descent | 35 |
20090005921 | PORTABLE AUTONOMOUS TERMINAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM - A portable autonomous terminal guidance system can be located in an aircraft landing zone. The terminal guidance system generates a signal indicative of the position, the terrain, and the meteorological conditions where the guidance system is located. A receiving aircraft may process the signal produced by the terminal guidance system to generate a self-contained GPS obstacle-avoidance approach path for the aircraft to the landing zone. | 01-01-2009 |
20100036551 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ASSISTING AN AIRCRAFT FLIGHT CONTROL DURING LANDING APPROACH - The inventive flight control assisting device comprises first means ( | 02-11-2010 |
20100036552 | AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING ENERGY HEIGHT - A system is provided for monitoring an energy height of an aircraft during landing. The system includes a database including landing distance data; a processing unit configured to receive the landing distance data from the database and to calculate a landing distance of the aircraft based on a velocity and a height of the aircraft, the processing unit further configured to provide display signals based on the landing distance; and a visual display coupled to the processing unit and configured to provide a visual image based on the display signals. | 02-11-2010 |
20100070115 | Method and Device for Aiding the Piloting of an Aircraft During a Landing - Method and device for aiding the piloting of an aircraft during a landing phase. | 03-18-2010 |
20100125382 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SERVOCONTROLLING AN AIRCRAFT SPEED-WISE IN AN APPROACH PHASE - A method and device for servocontrolling an aircraft speed-wise in an approach phase. | 05-20-2010 |
20100217460 | FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM - A flight control system commands drag devices such as flight spoilers according to pilot or autopilot longitudinal command. Furthermore, the flight control system monitors a set of flight parameters to determine whether the aircraft is operating inside the permitted safe envelope, hence, incorporating envelope automatic exceeding disengagement. This invention allows the aircraft to descend in a steeper glide path than the 3° used in the normal approach, while keeping speeds unchanged. | 08-26-2010 |
20100217461 | IMPLEMENTING CONTINUOUS DESCENT APPROACHES FOR MAXIMUM PREDICTABILITY IN AIRCRAFT - The present invention relates to continuous descent approaches that ensure the greatest certainty in arrival time. The continuous descent approach is flown by maintaining an aerodynamic flight path angle, thereby allowing a ground speed to be followed with greater accuracy. An improvement is described that accounts for turns made during continuous descent approaches that may otherwise cause a drift away from the desired ground speed, and hence arrival time. A correction to the aerodynamic flight path angle is used that produces a compensatory change in the potential energy of the aircraft upon completing the turn to balance the anticipated drift in kinetic energy. | 08-26-2010 |
20110118911 | STABILIZED APPROACH MONITOR - Systems and methods for suppressing an unstable alert when the aircraft is in the process of landing on a temporarily displaced threshold. In an example process, a processor on the aircraft determines the aircraft is on an approach to landing on a runway based on information received from one or more data sources on the aircraft, then retrieves predefined glideslope information for the runway from a memory device that is in signal communication with the processor. Next, the processor determines whether position of the aircraft is above the predefined glideslope by a first threshold amount. If the aircraft is determined to be above the predefined glideslope by the first threshold amount, the processor issues an unstable alert only if a flight path angle of the aircraft is greater than an angle of the predefined glideslope by a second threshold amount. | 05-19-2011 |
20110118912 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AVIATION NAVIGATION - 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. | 05-19-2011 |
20120150369 | Method And Device For Aiding The Approach Of An Aircraft During An Approach Phase For The Purpose Of Landing - The device ( | 06-14-2012 |
20120191274 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO ASSIST CONVENTIONAL FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT LANDING, WITHOUT A RUNWAY - A system allows conventional, unprepared fixed-wing aircraft to land safely on very small, unprepared areas, enabling an aerodynamic capacitance in which the airplanes can fly in a controlled manner against coherent air current, being assisted by a combined system including both the air current control mechanisms and the automatic flight control system of the aircraft. | 07-26-2012 |
20120209459 | METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING A DESCENT TRAJECTORY OF AN AIRCRAFT BASED ON SELECTED METEOROLOGICAL DATA - A method of descent trajectory of an aircraft includes an iterative process of selecting meteorological data points along a predicted descent trajectory, generating a wind profile along the predicted descent trajectory for the selected data points, determining a subset fuel cost and a subset time cost based upon the wind profile, selecting the subset that minimizes weighted fuel burn and time error, and calculating an optimized descent trajectory based on the selected subset. | 08-16-2012 |
20120232725 | Method For Optimizing Aircraft Landing On A Runway - According to the invention, a target vertical speed (Vzo), defined in relation to the ground, is determined and an optimized ground slope (γ | 09-13-2012 |
20120290155 | Method And Device For Aiding The Piloting Of An Aircraft During An Intermediate Approach Phase Of A Descent - Method and device for aiding the piloting of an aircraft during an intermediate approach phase of a descent. | 11-15-2012 |
20120303186 | Method And System For Aiding The Piloting Of An Airplane During An Approach - The system ( | 11-29-2012 |
20130013135 | AUTOMATICALLY GUIDED PARAFOIL DIRECTED TO LAND ON A MOVING TARGET - A method is described performing the following with a parafoil's control unit composed of electronic circuitry while the control unit is being transported with a parafoil: calculating a desired landing location for a parafoil, the desired landing location corresponding to a moving target, the calculating including using a term representative of the moving target's velocity; determining a flight path to the desired landing location; and, controlling the parafoil's flight path so as to follow the flight path. | 01-10-2013 |
20130103233 | AUTOMATIC LANDING METHOD AND DEVICE FOR AN AIRCRAFT ON A STRONG SLOPE RUNWAY - The device ( | 04-25-2013 |
20130204470 | METHOD FOR PLANNING A LANDING APPROACH OF AN AIRCRAFT, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, MEDIUM WITH A LANDING APPROACH PLAN STORED THEREON, AS WELL AS DEVICE FOR PLANNING A LANDING APPROACH - A method and computer program product for planning a landing approach of an aircraft based on an actual position or first nominal position of the aircraft during its approach for landing on a runway, including providing a stabilization flight path section and stabilization region and/or stabilization point defined by an altitude profile by at least one configuration change point in the stabilization flight path section with a change of the overall profile configuration of the airfoils and with a predetermined final approach flight status of the aircraft, and checking or changing position of the at least one configuration change measure in a change and/or the addition of an additional configuration change measure to the stabilization flight path section and by changing a speed profile along the stabilization flight path section so that the aircraft reaches the predetermined final approach flight status in the stabilization region or at the stabilization point. | 08-08-2013 |
20130245861 | Navigation Assistance Method for Monitoring Navigation Performance in Linear or Angular Mode - A method for assisting in the navigation of an aircraft comprises steps of calculating and displaying a linear deviation on a first linear section and an angular deviation on a second angular section. The method comprises a calculation step for converting an angular deviation into an equivalent linear deviation, and, conversely, converting a linear deviation into an equivalent angular deviation. The method comprises a step of graphic representation, called unified monitoring, intended for the crew, of a deviation of the aircraft, on a lateral deviation axis and a vertical deviation axis; each of the deviations, lateral and vertical, being able to be represented on a linear scale, an angular scale or a mixed scale. | 09-19-2013 |
20130245862 | Navigation Assistance Method Based on Anticipation of Linear or Angular Deviations - A method for assisting in the navigation of an aircraft comprises steps of calculating and displaying a linear deviation on a first linear section and an angular deviation on a second angular section. The method comprises a step of calculation of an anticipated deviation of the aircraft, expressed linearly or angularly, projected to a time DT, characteristic of a reaction time of the aircraft, and of a statistical error distribution associated with this anticipated deviation; and a step of calculation of a probability of exceeding a predetermined target deviation, by means of the anticipated deviation and of the statistical error distribution. The method also comprises a crew alert when the probability is above a predetermined threshold. | 09-19-2013 |
20130325222 | AUTOMATIC RECOVERY METHOD FOR AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE - The present invention relates to an automatic recovery method for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and more particularly to a vision-based automatic recovery method for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) using a reference trajectory, in which information from a front vision camera and information from navigation equipment embedded in the unmanned aerial vehicle are combined by a weighting method. | 12-05-2013 |
20140114506 | METHOD FOR ASSISTING IN THE PILOTING OF AN AIRCRAFT DURING A LANDING AND PILOTING ASSISTANCE SYSTEM SUITABLE FOR IMPLEMENTING THIS METHOD - A method for assisting in the piloting of an aircraft during a landing on a landing area on the ground. The method includes the following steps: (1) during a landing phase, while the landing area on the ground is visible from the aircraft: displaying, on a screen of the cockpit of the aircraft, a target corresponding to this landing, overlaid on a view outside the aircraft; receiving from a pilot a command to modify this target and displaying the duly modified target; and receiving a command to validate a value of the target by a pilot; (2) automatically determining an aircraft flight trajectory as a function of the aircraft's current position and of the value of the target validated by the pilot and storing this trajectory; and (3) guiding the aircraft along the stored trajectory. Also a piloting assistance system suitable for implementing this method is disclosed. | 04-24-2014 |
20140249704 | STEEP APPROACH PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS AND OPTIMIZATION - A flight control system can achieve a relatively steep descent (using drag devices such as flight spoilers) at relatively low speeds while retaining good airplane handling qualities from the pilot's point of view. The system and method optimize the drag device's positioning used to perform steep approach to improve performance. | 09-04-2014 |
20140343765 | Flight Assistant with Automatic Configuration and Landing Site Selection - A system and apparatus for assisting pilots and flight crews in determining the best course of action at any particular point inflight for any category of emergency. The system monitors a plurality of static and dynamic flight parameters including atmospheric conditions along the flight path, ground conditions and terrain, conditions aboard the aircraft, and pilot/crew data. Based on these parameters, the system may provide continually updated information to the pilot or crew about the best available landing sites or recommend solutions to aircraft configuration errors. In case of emergency, the system may provide the pilot with procedure sets associated with a hierarchy of available emergency landing sites (or execute these procedure sets via the autopilot system) depending on the specific nature of the emergency. | 11-20-2014 |
20140343766 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINING AN OPTIMIZED APPROACH PROFILE FOR AN AIRCRAFT - Method and device for automatically determining an optimized approach profile for an aircraft. The device provides for a flexible configuration change speed which is not limited to the standard single predetermined configuration change speed in order to prevent segments which are not authorized, in particular segments which are too steep, the following configuration (Ci+1) being able to be maintained during a configuration change in an upstream direction until the corresponding speed profile reaches a maximum speed. | 11-20-2014 |
20140350755 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AIDING PILOTING WHEN SELECTING A TRAJECTORY OF APPROACH - A method and system for aiding piloting when selecting a trajectory of approach of an airport or airfield, implemented on at least one processor, includes a first step of selecting a landing airport or airfield, and a second step of determining, for said landing airport or airfield, all or part of the possible trajectories of approach associated with a landing runway, on the basis of a database of the airports or airfields. A third step determines, for at least one of the possible approaches, whether or not said approach is compatible with an angular guidance mode, by geometrical analysis of the approach; and a fourth step displays all of said possible approaches, for said landing airport or airfield, and of displaying the compatibility with said angular guidance mode for the approaches analyzed. | 11-27-2014 |
20140379179 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTONOMOUS LANDING USING A THREE DIMENSIONAL EVIDENCE GRID - A method for autonomous landing of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising: obtaining sensor data corresponding to one or more objects outside of the aircraft using at least one onboard sensor; using the sensor data to create a three dimensional evidence grid, wherein a three dimensional evidence grid is a three dimensional world model based on the sensor data; combining a priori data with the three dimensional evidence grid; locating a landing zone based on the combined three dimensional evidence grid and a priori data; validating an open spots in the landing zone, wherein validating includes performing surface condition assessment of a surface of the open spots; generating landing zone motion characterization, wherein landing zone motion characterization includes characterizing real time landing zone pitching, heaving, rolling or forward motion; processing the three dimensional evidence grid data to generate flight controls to land the aircraft in one of the open spots; and controlling the aircraft according to the flight controls to land the aircraft. | 12-25-2014 |
20150120100 | METHOD FOR AIDING NAVIGATION FOR AN AIRCRAFT DURING DESCENT AND DURING APPROACH AT REDUCED THRUST - A method for aiding navigation for an aircraft between a descent start point and a computation end point, comprises the computation steps of: collecting a flight plan consisting of a succession of waypoints and of the associated vertical constraints; determining a corridor consisting of a floor trajectory and of a ceiling trajectory defining the minimum and maximum altitudes permitted to the aircraft; splitting the corridor into several cells defined between two waypoints furthest apart and between which the ceiling trajectory is distinct from the floor trajectory; determining for at least one cell a vertical trajectory complying with the altitude constraints and comprising the longest possible IDLE segment; and a step consisting in determining and displaying maneuvering points of the aircraft making it possible to follow the target vertical trajectory. | 04-30-2015 |
20150149002 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONSTRUCTING A VERTICAL PROFILE FOR A DESCENT AND/OR AN APPROACH OF AN AIRCRAFT - This relates to a method and device for constructing a vertical profile for an aircraft descent and/or approach. The construction device comprises a data-capture unit configured to provide, for at least one of a plurality of parameters, a value relating to a user strategy. A construction unit is configured to automatically construct a vertical profile for an aircraft descent and/or approach, using the value thus provided. | 05-28-2015 |
20150291287 | AUTOTHROTTLE RETARD CONTROL - An autothrottle retard initiation method includes receiving an aircraft's ground speed, receiving the aircraft's vertical speed, determining autothrottle retard initiation height based on the aircraft's ground speed, the aircraft's vertical speed, and an aircraft vertical landing speed factor, receiving the aircraft's height above ground, and initiating autothrottle retard when the aircraft's height above ground and the autothrottle retard initiation height are equal. | 10-15-2015 |
20150298821 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MODULATING PREMATURE DESCENT PROTECTION ENVELOPE - A system and method are provided for modifying the position or shape of a premature descent protection envelope with regard to a runway when an aircraft making an approach to the runway is below the nominal approach path and has a flight path angle greater than the nominal approach path angle. | 10-22-2015 |
20150302753 | LANDING ALERTS FOR PREVENTING RUNWAY EXCURSIONS - A landing alert system and method for preventing runway excursions may include determining, during an approach of an aircraft to landing on a runway, a target touchdown point on the runway, determining a boundary descent path configured to permit safe approach and touchdown of the aircraft on the runway at or before the target touchdown point, and, in response to the aircraft crossing within a selected margin of the boundary path, alerting an operator of the aircraft. | 10-22-2015 |
20150308834 | Method and system for adjusting the descent trajectory of an aircraft - A system comprising an adjustment unit installed in an aircraft and configured to adjust a descent trajectory and associated prediction calculations as a function of an adjustment parameter. The system comprises information processing units for automatically calculating, on the ground and from recorded flight data, an effective value of a calculation parameter, and a corresponding theoretical value of the calculation parameter, with the help of an auxiliary performance database which is identical to a performance database installed in the aircraft, for identical flight conditions, and for deriving therefrom the adjustment parameter that will be used subsequently by the adjustment unit. | 10-29-2015 |
20150348423 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ECONOMIZING FLIGHT EXPENDITURES DURING AIRCRAFT DESCENT AND APPROACH - A system and method provides situation awareness for a pilot to appropriately configure the aircraft as well as intercept the flight management system computed vertical profile in order to reduce fuel consumption, emission and better manage aircraft energy for safer operations. Markers are displayed on a vertical situation display suggesting a profile that the pilot may select involving aircraft configuration and actual flown trajectory versus the computed vertical profile, especially when aircraft is off the computed vertical profile. | 12-03-2015 |
20160063867 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RECOVERING THE ENERGY STATE OF AN AIRCRAFT DURING DESCENT - A method and system is provided for the recovery of an aircraft energy upset in a time-constrained descent. The system includes a computational unit to assess a number of adjustments involving a combination of speed changes, aerodynamic brake deployment and track miles adjustments that alter the energy dissipation profile whilst allowing the aircraft to maintain a pre-determined time-of-arrival over an incoming waypoint along the original descent path. | 03-03-2016 |