Method and device for detecting degradation of performance of an aircraft
AssigneeAvions De Transport Regional
InventorGérard Petit
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aircraft performance degradation detection system may include information sources, a central unit connected to the information sources, and a warning device that is connected to the central unit. Using information received from the information sources, the central unit computes the current weight and drag of the aircraft and computes a theoretical drag based on the current weight. The current and theoretical drags are compared, and a determination is made regarding performance degradation based on the comparison.
Claims31
A method for detecting aircraft performance degradation comprising:
- (a) receiving the initial weight of the aircraft from an external source;
- (b) computing a current weight of the aircraft based on the received initial weight;
- (c) computing the drag of the aircraft based on the computed current weight;
- (d) computing a theoretical drag, CXth, of the aircraft based on the value of the computed drag and the square value of the computed drag
- (e) comparing the computed theoretical drag to a current drag of the aircraft that is computed by a different formula;
- (f) generating an indication of aircraft performance degradation based on the result of the comparison;
- and
- (g) outputting said indication.
A method for detecting aircraft performance degradation comprising:
- receiving the initial weight of the aircraft from an external source;
- computing a current weight of the aircraft based on the received initial weight;
- computing a theoretical drag of the aircraft based on the computed current weight;
- computing the current drag, CXa/c, of the aircraft using the expression:
- CXa/c=2.T/R.S.TAS2−G,
- in which:
- R is a constant value,
- S represents the area of the flying surface of the aircraft,
- TAS is a computed airspeed,
- G is a value dependent on TAS, and
- T is a value of traction;
- comparing the computed theoretical drag to the computed current drag of the aircraft;
- and
- outputting an indication of aircraft performance degradation based on the result of the comparison.
A device for detecting aircraft performance degradation comprising:
- a set of information sources;
- a first computer that computes a current weight of the aircraft based on the initial weight of the aircraft obtained from the set of information sources;
- a second computer that computes a value of aircraft drag based on the computed current weight and computes a theoretical drag, CXth, of the aircraft based on the computed value of drag and the square of the computed value of drag;
- a first comparator that compares the computed theoretical drag to a current drag of the aircraft that is computed by a different formula;
- and
- a warning indicator that indicates aircraft performance degradation based on the result of the comparison.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.