System for producing a flight plan

Abstract

A flight planning system includes one or more flight management system and a flight plan manager that constructs a flight plan according to static information from the flight management system. A flight management system that also constructs flight plans includes a flight plan manager that constructs a flight plan according to information stored in the flight management system. In constructing the flight plan, either flight management system may compute values of flight plan parameters, such as PNR, PET, ETOPS and LROPS, based on dynamic information related to the flight. On the ground, one of either type of flight management system is selected from a plurality thereof for producing a flight plan for a respective aircraft or aircraft model.

Description

[0001]This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 012,469, filed Dec. 10, 2007FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to the field of aviation, and more particularly, to a system for producing a flight plan.[0003]The definition of “flight plan” used herein is taken from the FAA Airman's Information Manual (2008), Volume 3 General Technical Administration, Chapter 25 Operational Control for Air Carriers, Section 3-1925. The term “flight plan” means a paper document or a file of electronic data prepared for purposes of flight planning, flight control and navigation. Flight planning consists of selecting an appropriate aircraft cruise schedule and applying forecast wind, temperature and aircraft performance data to a planned route to predict estimated time en route (ETE) and estimated fuel consumption.[0004]The term “ATC flight plan” refers herein to a plan filed by a pilot or a flight dispatcher with the aviation author...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0100]A first basic method of producing a flight plan, for a flight, includes two steps. In the first step, dynamic information (other than a flight plan) related to the flight is provided to a flight management system. In the second step, the flight management system computes

Problems solved by technology

Under the supervision of air traffic control, aircraft flying in controlled airspace must follow predetermined routes (e.g. airways), even if such routes are not as economical as a more direct flight.

In both cases, nowadays producing a flight plan is generally dependent on using computer programs, and as such the pilot has a limited control on the produced flight plan.

For example, if the fuel consumption of a Boeing 737 is used for preparing the flight plan instead of the fuel consumption of a Boeing 747, an air disaster may occur.

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