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US 12,698,095 B2Granted
Systems and methods for estimating a fuel level for a flight of an aircraft
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsDavid Garrido López, Johan De Prins, Maxim Constantijn Vos, Geun Il Kim, José Alexandre Tavares Guerreiro Fregnani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and a method include a control unit configured to determine drag factors and fuel flow factors for different phases of one or more prior flights of an aircraft, and determine a fuel level for one or more upcoming flights of the aircraft based on the drag factors and the fuel flow factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft.
Claims20
A system comprising:
- a control unit including one or more processors configured to:
- adjust a drag polar of an aircraft for dynamic aeroelastic effects for different phases of one or more prior flights of the aircraft, wherein the aircraft includes a flight management system (FMS), wherein the aircraft is configured to be operated during flight phases including Climb, Cruise, and Descent, and wherein a drag factor is associated is loaded in the FMS and referred to as an associated flight phase (Climb, Cruise, or Descent),
- determine a fuel level for one or more upcoming flights of the aircraft based on the drag polar as adjusted for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, drag factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, and fuel flow factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, and
- automatically operate the aircraft during the one or more upcoming flights based on the fuel level determined for the one or more upcoming flights, and
- combine the drag factors and the fuel flow factors based on the following:
- Δ
-
- W
-
- f
- i
- =
- Δ
-
- d
- i
- .
- (
- A
-
- V
-
- G
- F
-
- F
- A
-
- V
-
- G
- G
-
- S
- )
- ·
- 1
- (
- 1
- +
- Δ
-
- F
-
- M
- )
- Δ
-
- FM
- =
- -
- (
- DRAFfac
- +
- FFfac
- )
- Where
- :
- Δ
-
- Wfi
- =
- Fuel
-
- burn
-
- predicted
-
- at
-
- sector
-
- i
- Δ
-
- di
- =
- Distance
-
- computed
-
- in
-
- sector
-
-
- i
-
- (
- in
-
- nm
- )
- AVGFF
- =
- Fuel
-
- flow
-
- computed
-
- by
-
- the
-
- FMS
-
- in
-
- the
-
- beginning
-
- of
-
- leg
-
- i
- AVGGS
- =
- Ground
-
- speed
-
- computed
-
- by
-
- the
-
- FMS
-
- in
-
- the
-
- beginning
-
- of
-
- leg
-
- i
- Δ
-
- FM
- =
- Fuel
-
- Mileage
-
- factor
- DRAGfac
- =
- Drag
-
- factor
-
- loaded
-
-
- in
-
- the
-
- FMS
-
- referred
-
- to
-
- the
-
- associated
-
- flight
-
- phase
-
- (
- Climb
- ,
- Cruise
-
- or
-
- Descent
- )
- FFfac
- =
- Fuel
-
- flow
-
- factor
-
- loaded
-
- in
-
- the
-
-
- FMS
-
- referred
-
- to
-
- the
-
- associated
-
- flight
-
- phase
-
- (
- Climb
- ,
- Cruise
-
- or
-
- Descent
- )
- .
224 more elements
A method comprising:
- adjusting, by a control unit including one or more processors, a drag polar of an aircraft for dynamic aeroelastic effects for different phases of one or more prior flights of the aircraft, wherein the aircraft includes a flight management system (FMS), wherein the aircraft is configured to be operated during flight phases including Climb, Cruise, and Descent, and wherein a drag factor is loaded in the FMS and referred to as an associated flight phase (Climb, Cruise, or Descent);
- determining, by the control unit, a fuel level for one or more upcoming flights of the aircraft based on the drag polar as adjusted for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, drag factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, and fuel flow factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft;
- automatically operating the aircraft during the one or more upcoming flights based on the fuel level determined for the one or more upcoming flights;
- and
- combine the drag factors and the fuel flow factors based on the following:
- Δ
-
- W
-
- f
- i
- =
- Δ
-
- d
- i
- .
- (
- A
-
- V
-
- G
- F
-
- F
- A
-
- V
-
- G
- G
-
- S
- )
- ·
- 1
- (
- 1
- +
- Δ
-
- F
-
- M
- )
- Δ
-
- FM
- =
- -
- (
- DRAFfac
- +
- FFfac
- )
- Where
- :
- Δ
-
- Wfi
- =
- Fuel
-
- burn
-
- predicted
-
- at
-
- sector
-
- i
- Δ
-
- di
- =
- Distance
-
- computed
-
- in
-
- sector
-
-
- i
-
- (
- in
-
- nm
- )
- AVGFF
- =
- Fuel
-
- flow
-
- computed
-
- by
-
- the
-
- FMS
-
- in
-
- the
-
- beginning
-
- of
-
- leg
-
- i
- AVGGS
- =
- Ground
-
- speed
-
- computed
-
- by
-
- the
-
- FMS
-
- in
-
- the
-
- beginning
-
- of
-
- leg
-
- i
- Δ
-
- FM
- =
- Fuel
-
- Mileage
-
- factor
- DRAGfac
- =
- Drag
-
- factor
-
- loaded
-
-
- in
-
- the
-
- FMS
-
- referred
-
- to
-
- the
-
- associated
-
- flight
-
- phase
-
- (
- Climb
- ,
- Cruise
-
- or
-
- Descent
- )
- FFfac
- =
- Fuel
-
- flow
-
- factor
-
- loaded
-
- in
-
- the
-
-
- FMS
-
- referred
-
- to
-
- the
-
- associated
-
- flight
-
- phase
-
- (
- Climb
- ,
- Cruise
-
- or
-
- Descent
- )
- .
224 more elements
A system comprising:
- an aircraft including a flight management system (FMS), wherein the aircraft is configured to be operated during flight phases including Climb, Cruise, and Descent, and wherein a drag factor is loaded in the FMS and referred to as an associated flight phase (Climb, Cruise, or Descent);
- a user interface including a display and an input device;
- and
- a control unit including one or more processors, wherein the control unit is in communication with the user interface, and wherein the control unit is configured to:
- show configurable factors settings on the display,
- receive flight data for the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, and wherein the flight data includes drag factors for different phases of one or more prior flights of the aircraft, and fuel flow factors for different phases of one or more prior flights of the aircraft, wherein the different phases comprise a climb phase, a cruise phase, and a descent phase,
- adjust a drag polar of the aircraft for dynamic aeroelastic effects for different phases of one or more prior flights of the aircraft, wherein the drag polar is a relationship between drag on the aircraft and a coefficient of lift, angle-of-attack, and speed of the aircraft, and
- determine a fuel level for one or more upcoming flights of the aircraft based on the drag polar as adjusted for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, drag factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft, and fuel flow factors for the different phases of the one or more prior flights of the aircraft,
- automatically operate the aircraft during the one or more upcoming flights based on the fuel level determined for the one or more upcoming flights, and
- combine the drag factors and the fuel flow factors based on the following:
- Δ
-
- W
-
- f
- i
- =
- Δ
-
- d
- i
- .
- (
- A
-
- V
-
- G
- F
-
- F
- A
-
- V
-
- G
- G
-
- S
- )
- ·
- 1
- (
- 1
- +
- Δ
-
- F
-
- M
- )
- Δ
-
- FM
- =
- -
- (
- DRAFfac
- +
- FFfac
- )
- Where
- :
- Δ
-
- Wfi
- =
- Fuel
-
- burn
-
- predicted
-
- at
-
- sector
-
- i
- Δ
-
- di
- =
- Distance
-
- computed
-
- in
-
- sector
-
-
- i
-
- (
- in
-
- nm
- )
- AVGFF
- =
- Fuel
-
- flow
-
- computed
-
- by
-
- the
-
- FMS
-
- in
-
- the
-
- beginning
-
- of
-
- leg
-
- i
- AVGGS
- =
- Ground
-
- speed
-
- computed
-
- by
-
- the
-
- FMS
-
- in
-
- the
-
- beginning
-
- of
-
- leg
-
- i
- Δ
-
- FM
- =
- Fuel
-
- Mileage
-
- factor
- DRAGfac
- =
- Drag
-
- factor
-
- loaded
-
-
- in
-
- the
-
- FMS
-
- referred
-
- to
-
- the
-
- associated
-
- flight
-
- phase
-
- (
- Climb
- ,
- Cruise
-
- or
-
- Descent
- )
- FFfac
- =
- Fuel
-
- flow
-
- factor
-
- loaded
-
- in
-
- the
-
-
- FMS
-
- referred
-
- to
-
- the
-
- associated
-
- flight
-
- phase
-
- (
- Climb
- ,
- Cruise
-
- or
-
- Descent
- )
- .
229 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.