ADVANCED FLIGHT PLANNING SYSTEM

CURRENTLY, AIRLINE AND MILITARY AIRSPACE USERS DO NOT HAVE COORDINATED NOR CONSISTENT METHODS OF GENERATING FLIGHT PLANS (PRE-FLIGHT ROUTE STRUCTURE DEFINITION). SOME USE ANTIQUATED METHODS OF ROUTE GENERATION. SOME USE WEATHER DATA OVER 24 HOURS OLD. NONE ACCOUNT FOR THE POSSIBLE EXISTENCE OF AN ON-BOARD FLIGHT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (FMS). THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO CORRECT THESE PROBLEMS BY MEANS OF A FLIGHT PLANNING SYSTEM WHICH INTEGRATES RECENTADVANCES IN FLIGHT PATH OPTIMIZATION, WEATHER ANALYSIS, AND ON-BOARD FMS HARDWARE DEVELOPMENTS. IN GENERAL, COMPATIBILITY WITH AIRLINE OPERATING PROCEDURES IS AN IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT. IN PHASE I, ONE OR MORE CANDIDATE USER AIRLINES ARE SELECTED. THE FLIGHT OPERATING CONSTRAINTS, WEATHER MODEL, AIRCRAFT CHARACTERISTICS, AND FLIGHT PLAN FORMAT ARE DEFINED. AN APPROPRIATE OPTIMIZATIONTECHNIQUE IS SELECTED, AND A PRELIMINARY FUNCTIONAL DESIGN OF THE ADVANCED FLIGHT PLANNING SYSTEM IS DEVELOPED.