Ground and flight testing for aircraft guidance and control
A simple airborne flight management descent algorithm designed to define a flight profile subject to the constraints of using idle thrust, a clean airplane configuration (landing gear up, flaps zero, and speed brakes retracted), and fixed-time end conditions was developed and flight tested in the NASA TSRV B-737 research airplane. The research test flights, conducted in the Denver ARTCC automated time-based metering LFM/PD ATC environment, demonstrated that time guidance and control in the cockpit was acceptable to the pilots and ATC controllers and resulted in arrival of the airplane over the metering fix with standard deviations in airspeed error of 6.5 knots, in altitude error of 23.7 m (77.8 ft), and in arrival time accuracy of 12 sec. These accuracies indicated a good representation of airplane performance and wind modeling. Fuel savings will be obtained on a fleet-wide basis through a reduction of the time error dispersions at the metering fix and on a single-airplane basis by presenting the pilot with guidance for a fuel-efficient descent.
- Research Organization:
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hampton, VA (USA). Langley Research Center
- OSTI ID:
- 6492792
- Report Number(s):
- AGARD-AG-262
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Description of the computations and pilot procedures for planning fuel-conservative descents with a small programmable calculator
User's manual for a fuel-conservative descent planning algorithm implemented on a small programmable calculator