Aircraft landing control system

Abstract

Abstract A VERSATILE ALL-WEATHER LANDING CONTROL SYSTEM IS DISCLOSED, THE AIRCRAFT LANDING CONTROL SYSTEM BEING CAPABLE OF LANDING AIRCRAFT IN ZERO-ZERO VISIBILITY WITH THE SAME TIME SPACING BETWEEN AIRCRAFT AS IS ACHIEVES DURING NORMAL, UNLIMITED VISIBILITY LANDINGS. THE SUBJECT INVENTION CONTEMPLATES THE PROVISION OF A PLURALITY OF RECEIVING ANTENNAS AND/OR TRANSMITTING ANTENNAS DISPOSED IN A PREDETERMINED GEOMETRIC CONFIGURATION ON THE GROUND ADJACENT THE RUNAWAY AND PREFERABLY IN SYMMETRICAL RELATIONSHIP TO THE CENTER LINE THEREOF. THE AIRCRAFT TO BE LANDED ALSO CARRIES RECEIVING AND TRANSMITTING EQUIPMENT OF VARYING COMPLEXITY AS DESIRED. THROUGH INTERACTION OF THE GROUND AND "ON BOARD" EQUIPMENT, THE SPATIAL POSITION OF THE AIRCRAFT AND ITS DEVIATION FROM A PRESCRIBED GLIDE PATH CAN BE DETERMINED, SUCH DETERMINATION INVOLVING A "TRILATERATION" TECHNIQUE UTILIZING DATA REPRESENATIVE OF THE STRAIGHT-LINE DISTANCE OF THE AIRCRAFT FROM THE PLURALITY OF ANTENNAS ON THE GROUND. ONCE THE AIRCRAFT POSITION IS KNOWN, GUIDANCE OF THE AIRCRAFT TO LANDING OF THE AIRCRAFT SAFE AND ACCURATE MANNER, THE LANDING OF THE AIRCRAFT EITHER BEING EFFECTED MANUALLY BY THE PILOT OR BEING EFFECTED BY THE "AUTO-PILOT" SYSTEM OR THE LIKE ON THE AIRCRAFT, THE ACTUAL GUIDANCE DATA EITHER BEING COMPUTED ON THE GROUND OR ON THE AIRCRAFT ITSELF.

Inventors

• 👤 Isaac D Nehama
• 👤 Clarence A Lovell

Bibliographic Details