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US 12,729,017 B2Granted
Method for managing the configuration of an aircraft equipped with at least one auxiliary power unit or not, aircraft and device making it possible to implement said method
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorsPierre Dourel, Benoit Cazor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for managing at least one aircraft configured to alternately occupy a first configuration suitable for a first flight category not requiring any auxiliary power unit and a second configuration suitable for a second flight category requiring at least one auxiliary power unit. The managing method includes adapting the configuration of the aircraft to the category of the flight to be performed. Thus, when the category of the flight to be performed by the aircraft does not require it, the auxiliary power unit can be removed, this leading to a decrease in on-board weight.
Claims11
A method for managing at least one aircraft, said aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage that has a main portion and being configured to perform a first category of flights not requiring any auxiliary power unit and a second category of flights requiring at least one auxiliary power unit, wherein the aircraft is configured to alternately occupy:
- a first configuration suitable for the first flight category, in which a first configuration of the aircraft comprises a lightened first tail cone, not comprising any auxiliary power unit, positioned aft of the main portion and connected to the latter by a removable aft link, and a second configuration suitable for the second flight category, in which a second configuration of the aircraft comprises a second tail cone comprising an auxiliary power unit, positioned aft of the main portion and connected to the main portion by the removable aft link, and wherein the managing method comprises, for at least one given flight to be performed, a first step of determining, from among the first and second flight categories, to which category the given flight to be performed belongs, a second step of determining, from among the first and second configurations, which configuration is suitable for the flight category determined in the first step, a third step of changing the configuration of the aircraft when the configuration of the aircraft does not correspond to the configuration determined in the second step, determining an amount of material resources required to carry out the third step of changing the configuration, the material resources at least partly including equipment configured to perform the third step automatically, and transforming, utilizing the material resources determined, the aircraft by equipping the aircraft with the first tail cone or the second tail cone based on the determination of whether the first configuration or the second configuration is suitable.
A method for managing at least one aircraft, said aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage that has a main portion and being configured to perform a first category of flights not requiring any auxiliary power unit and a second category of flights requiring at least one auxiliary power unit, wherein the aircraft is configured to alternately occupy:
- a first configuration associated with the first flight category, in which a first configuration of the aircraft comprises a lightened first tail cone, not comprising any auxiliary power unit, positioned aft of the main portion and connected to the latter by a removable aft link, and a second configuration associated with the second flight category, in which a second configuration of the aircraft comprises a second tail cone comprising an auxiliary power unit, positioned aft of the main portion and connected to the main portion by the removable aft link, and wherein the managing method comprises:
- a first step of planning the flights to be performed by the aircraft, a second step of determining, from among the first and second flight categories, to which category each flight to be performed belongs, a third step of determining, from among the first and second configurations, which configuration is suitable for the flight category determined in the second step, a fourth step of determining each scheduled stopover between two successive flights having different aircraft configurations, a fifth step of planning a step of changing the configuration for each stopover determined in the fourth step, and a sixth step of changing the configuration of the aircraft at each stopover determined in the fourth step, wherein the fifth planning step comprises predicting the place and date of the step of changing the configuration, the first or second tail cone to be installed compatible with the aircraft to be converted, and the material and human resources required to carry out the step of changing the configuration, wherein the step of changing the configuration consists of transforming, utilizing the material and human resources determined, the aircraft by equipping the aircraft with the first tail cone or the second tail cone based on the determination of whether the first configuration or the second configuration is suitable.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.