Weight indicator for an aircraft

Abstract

Abstract Take-off performance of an aircraft is dependent upon a number of factors including total load weight and load distribution. In some instances a special supervisor is required to supervise loading and enable trouble-free take-off. Alternatively load transducers mounted on the undercarriage and monitored in the cockpit have been used in the past. However, these take no account of any slope which the aircraft may be parked upon. According to the invention a load indicator for an aircraft having an attitude meter and supported by undercarriage support members when parked includes: a plurality of load transducers, 1,2 and 3, for mounting on the support members with outputs connected to a computing unit, 4, which also has an input for connecting to the attitude meter, 5, and a load indicator display, 12, connected to receive an output from the computing unit and display aircraft load weight. The inventive load indicator therefore automatically takes account of slope. Additional inputs to the computing unit may be introduced to take account of eg air temperature, altitude. The load indicator display may indicate the maximum all-up-weight point and also give a centre of gravity display.

Inventors

• 👤 John Frank Tippen

Bibliographic Details