Patent · US Expired

Airborne flight planning and information system

US4642775A · kind A · utility

282Cited by
19References
40Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 24, 1985
Grant dateFeb 10, 1987
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 24, 2005

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01C23/00
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A flight planning system for obtaining flight plans and/or weather information is provided with a portable computer having a display unit, keyboard, memory, built in modem and a built in disk drive that can be connected via telephone lines to a ground based data center. The basic flight planning data and/or weather request data is input in response to menu driven prompts and reviewed on the display by the pilot. The portable computer is then connected to the data center which generates a series of optimized flight plans and provides desired weather information. After the desired flight plan and/or weather information has been selected by the pilot, it is loaded onto a floppy disk in the disk drive. The aircraft is provided with a data transfer unit which accepts the floppy disk and downloads the flight plan and requested weather information into the onboard computerized navigation system. In addition the aircraft is provided with a VHF radio system for inflight communication with the data center so that the flight plan and/or weather information can be updated.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.