Method and apparatus for aircraft guidance

Claim 3

Method according to claim 1, wherein a quantity is sensed representing the distance of the aircraft to the transmitter and wherein the proportionality coefficient of at least one of said differential glide signal and differential localizer signal is decreased in accordance with the decreasing of said quantity.

Claim 4

Method according to claim 2, wherein said quantity is an altitude information.

Claim 5

Method according to claim 1, wherein vertical acceleration of the aircraft is detected on board, a vertical velocity signal is formed proportional to the differential of said vertical acceleration, and said vertical velocity signal is added in the sum to form said altitude correcting signal.

Claim 6

Method according to claim 1, for an aircraft having a speed control apparatus and a depth control, wherein the air speed of the aircraft is detected on board thereof, a speed difference signal is formed proportional to the difference between the air speed and the control speed, and a pitching attitude signal comprising said speed difference signal is applied to said depth control so as to eliminate said difference.

Claim 7

Method according to claim 5, wherein longitudinal acceleration of the aircraft is detected on board thereof, the result of this detection is used to form a signal proportional to the differential coefficient with respect to time of the longitudinal velocity, and this proportional signal is introduced as a term in the said pitching attitude signal.

Claim 8

Method according to claim 5, wherein the maximum value of the said pitching attitude signal is limited.

Claim 9

Method according to claim 5, wherein an integral signal proportional to the integral of the said difference signal is formed and in which this integral signal is used also to act upon the depth control.

Claim 10

Method according to claim 1, wherein the maximum value of the said direction correcting signal is limited and in which the value of the limit is lowered in the course of the approach to maintain it at a value commensurate with flight safety.

Claim 11

Method according to claim 9, wherein a course rotation is carried out responsive to the roll correcting signal at a speed of rotation such that the turn is effected without side slipping.

Claim 12

Method according to claim 1 wherein the maximum value of the saiD altitude correcting signal is limited to a value commensurate with flight safety.

Claim 13

Method according to claim 1 wherein the altitude correcting signal is brought into operation only after the aircraft has reached the inclined plane of descent.

Claim 14

Method according to claim 1, wherein the aircraft is a helicopter.

Claim 15

Apparatus for guiding an aircraft to effect an automatic approach to a landing place, the aircraft having a general power control for altitude command and a direction control for a roll and yaw command, the apparatus comprising: means for transmitting from the ground toward the aircraft directional radio waves at a carrier frequency of the order of gigahertz defining a radioelectric guiding axis comprising a vertical localizer plane and a glide plane perpendicular to the localizer plane; means for receiving said radio waves on board the aircraft; means responsive to the received radio waves for producing a first signal representing the vertical angular deviation of the aircraft from the glide plane; means responsive to the received radio waves for producing a second signal representing the horizontal angular deviation of the aircraft from the localizer plane; means responsive to the first signal for producing a third signal representing the differential of the vertical angular deviation; means responsive to the second signal for producing a fourth signal representing the differential of the horizontal angular deviation; means responsive to the first and third signals for operating the general power control for altitude command to reduce the vertical angular deviation; and means responsive to the second and fourth signals for operating the direction control to reduce the horizontal angular deviation.

Claim 16

Apparatus for guiding an aircraft to effect an automatic approach to a landing place, the aircraft having a general power control for altitude command and a direction control for a roll and yaw command, the apparatus comprising: means for transmitting from the ground toward the aircraft directional radio waves at a carrier frequency of the order of gigahertz defining a radioelectric guiding axis comprising a vertical localizer plane and a glide plane perpendicular to the localizer plane; means for receiving said radio waves on board the aircraft; means responsive to the received radio waves for producing a first signal representing the vertical angular deviation of the aircraft from the glide plane; means responsive to the received radio waves for producing a second signal representing the horizontal angular deviation of the aircraft from the localizer plane; means responsive to the first signal for producing a third signal representing the differential of the vertical angular deviation; means responsive to the second signal for producing a fourth signal representing the differential of the horizontal angular deviation; means responsive to the first and third signals for operating the general power control for altitude command to reduce the vertical angular deviation; and means responsive to the second and fourth signals for operating the direction control to reduce the horizontal angular deviation.

Claim 17

The apparatus of claim 14, additionally comprising means for attenuating the first and third signals as the aircraft approaches the transmitting means.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 14, additionally comprising means for preventing the operation of the general power control responsive to the first and third signals before the aircraft reaches the guiding axis.

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 14, in which the direction control comprises a rolling system and a yawing system, the second and fourth signals are applied to the rolling system, and the second and fourth signals are applied to the yawing system such that a course rotation is carried out at the speed of rotation without side slipping.

Claim 20

The apparatus of claim 14, additionally comprising: means for producing a fifth signal representative of the difference between the anemometric speed of the aircraft and a control speed; means for producing a sixth signal representative of the differential coefficient with respect to time of the longitudinal velocity of the aircraft; and means responsive to the fifth and sixth signals for correcting the pitch of the aircraft to reduce the difference between the anemometric speed and the control speed.

Claim 21

The apparatus of claim 18, additionally comprising means for producing a seventh signal representative of the integral of the fifth signal, the pitch correcting means being responsive to the seventh signal.

Claim 22

The apparatus of claim 14, in which the aircraft is a helicopter.