Aircraft Wake Pairing for Fuel-Efficient Formation Flight
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial airlines face challenges in implementing wake surfing to improve fuel efficiency due to the large scale and complexity of civil and commercial flight operations, which makes coordinating aircraft formations difficult and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that identify common flight path portions for aircraft to enable a following aircraft to fly within the wake of a lead aircraft, generating updated flight plans with changes such as airspeed adjustments and route alterations to optimize fuel efficiency, and implementing these plans to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If aircraft operators implement wake surfing to improve fuel efficiency, then fuel consumption is reduced, but the complexity of coordinating large-scale commercial flight operations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized flight plan coordination system that acts as an intermediary between multiple aircraft operators. This system automatically identifies pairing opportunities, calculates optimal flight plans, and coordinates wake surfing arrangements, thereby reducing the coordination complexity while enabling fuel efficiency improvements through wake surfing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables aircraft operators to self-identify potential wake surfing opportunities by providing tools to analyze their own flight paths and automatically generate pairing requests. This self-service approach reduces the burden on centralized coordination while still achieving efficient wake surfing implementation across the fleet.
2Use of energy by moving object
If aircraft routes are altered to enable wake surfing pairings, then fuel efficiency is improved, but the flexibility of individual flight routes is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements wake surfing pairings for only those portions of flight paths where common segments exist or can be easily created. Rather than requiring complete route standardization, the system allows aircraft to maintain their original flexible routes for portions not involved in wake surfing pairings, thus achieving fuel efficiency improvements without completely sacrificing route flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The flight path is segmented into common segments (where wake surfing occurs) and unique segments (where original route flexibility is maintained). This segmentation allows the aircraft to follow optimized common paths for fuel efficiency while preserving the ability to deviate on unique portions of the route as needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution improves fuel efficiency by reducing aerodynamic interference, leading to lower fuel consumption and emissions, while also reducing the environmental impact of aircraft operations by minimizing wake and contrail production.
Implementation Method 1
an aircraft following a lead aircraft may experience less aerodynamic interference while traveling within a wake of the lead aircraft (wake surfing)
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure provides for identifying common flight path portions for aircraft and determining, from various factors and variables, an improved flight plan to take advantage of the reduced aerodynamic interference offered in the wake of aircraft. These improved flight plans provide improvements in fuel efficiency to the aircraft, which can extend the range of the aircraft for a given fuel capacity, require less fuel over a given route, and allow for faster travel between two points, among other improvements to the underlying aircraft.