Flight training system

A method of providing flight training, the method comprising collecting with an in-flight component a set of flight data about an aircraft during an in-flight training flight, wherein an in-flight training flight is a training flight that occurs in the air;

• and
• storing the set of flight data on a computer readable medium;
• receiving, at a ground component and from the in-flight component, the set of flight data collected during the in-flight training flight;
• providing a simulation of the in-flight training flight, based on the set of flight data collected during the in-flight training flight;
• receiving a set of control data from a set of controls, to allow a student to participate in the simulation of the in-flight training flight;
• receiving a set of modified flight data;
• and modifying the simulation of the in-flight training flight, based on the received set of modified flight data;
• wherein:
• the set of flight data comprises a set of free-body time, space and position information (“TSPI”),
• the set of TSPI comprises a set of altitude data, and
• the ground component further performs functions including correcting the altitude data using a filter routine that is configured to identify a known runway elevation, receiving altitude data from a global positioning system (“GPS”) receiver, and calculating, from the known runway elevation and the received altitude data, an actual altitude of the aircraft about ground level at a given point in time, based on a set of flight characteristics at the given point in time.

A computer software program embodied on one or more computer readable media, the computer software program comprising:

• a first component comprising:
• (a) instructions to collect a set of flight data about an aircraft during an in-flight training flight, wherein an in-flight training flight is a training flight that occurs in the air;
• and
• (b) instructions to store the set of flight data on the a computer readable medium;
• and a second component comprising:
• (a) instructions to receive, from the first component, the set of flight data collected during the in-flight training flight;
• (b) instructions to provide a simulation of the in-flight training flight, based on the set of flight data collected during the in-flight training flight;
• (c) instructions to receive a set of control data from a set of controls, to allow a student to participate in the simulation of the in-flight training flight;
• (d) instructions to receive a set of modified flight data;
• and
• (e) instructions to modify the simulation of the in-flight training flight, based on the received set of modified flight data;
• wherein:
• the set of flight data comprises a set of free-body time, space and position information (“TSPI”),
• the set of TSPI comprises a set of altitude data, and
• the second component further comprises instructions to correct the altitude data using a filter routine that is configured to identify a known runway elevation, receive altitude data from a global positioning system (“GPS”) receiver, and calculate, from the known runway elevation and the received altitude data, an actual altitude of the aircraft about ground level at a given point in time, based on a set of flight characteristics at the given point in time.

A computer system for providing flight training, the computer system comprising one or more processors and one or more computer readable media comprising a set of instructions executable by the one or more processors, the set of instructions comprising:

• a first component comprising:
• (a) instructions to collect a set of flight data about an aircraft during an in-flight training flight;
• and
• (b) instructions to store the set of flight data on the a computer readable medium;
• and a second component comprising:
• (a) instructions to receive, from the first component, the set of flight data collected during the in-flight training flight;
• (b) instructions to provide a simulation of the in-flight training flight, based on the set of flight data collected during the in-flight training flight;
• (c) instructions to receive a set of control data from a set of controls, to allow a student to participate in the simulation of the in-flight training flight;
• (d) instructions to receive a set of modified flight data;
• and
• (e) instructions to modify the simulation of the in-flight training flight, based on the received set of modified flight data,
• wherein:
• the in-flight training flight is a training flight that occurs in the air;
• the set of flight data comprises a set of free-body time, space and position information (“TSPI”),
• the set of TSPI comprises a set of altitude data, and
• the second component further comprises instructions to correct the altitude data using a filter routine that is configured to identify a known runway elevation, receive altitude data from a global positioning system (“GPS”) receiver, and calculate, from the known runway elevation and the received altitude data, an actual altitude of the aircraft about ground level at a given point in time, based on a set of flight characteristics at the given point in time.