Dynamic store ejection system

1 . A dynamic store ejection system for releasing and ejecting a store from an aircraft having an operational envelope said store ejection system comprising:

a store ejector having a plurality of suspension hooks for supporting and selectively releasing the store, and a plurality of ejector pistons for selectively pushing the store downward and away;

at least one force adjuster configured to selectively adjust a force setting that determines a force the ejector pistons of the store ejector push the store;

at least one pitch adjuster configured to selectively adjust a pitch setting that determines a pitch the ejector pistons of the store ejector push the store;

wherein the store has store characteristics comprising at least mass, shape, and center of gravity,

wherein current flight conditions comprise indicated air speed, multi-axis accelerations, altitude/temperature, pitch, yaw, roll rates, dynamic pressure, and angle of attack;

at least one controller having at least one processor and memory, and configured to continuously receive the current flight conditions of the aircraft during flight and to receive the store characteristics, to continuously digitally process the received current flight conditions during flight, to automatically and continuously signal the force adjuster during flight to adjust the force setting to a desired force based on the current flight conditions and the characteristics of the store and the pitch adjuster during flight to adjust the pitch setting to a desired pitch based on current flight conditions and the characteristics of the store, and to signal the store ejector to release and eject the store upon receiving a release signal during flight while the aircraft is anywhere within its operational envelope; and

wherein the at least one controller updates the desired force and the desired pitch and adjusts the force setting to the desired force and the pitch setting to the desired pitch at a rate greater than 10 Hz.

2 . The dynamic store ejection system according to claim 1 , wherein the force adjuster operates a valve and/or adjusts an orifice.

3 . The dynamic store ejection system according to claim 1 , wherein the pitch adjuster operates a valve and/or adjusts an orifice.

4 . The dynamic store ejection system according to claim 1 , wherein the flight conditions include flap/spoiler settings and gear settings.

5 . The dynamic store ejection system according to claim 1 , wherein the aircraft flight conditions are digitally processed by the controller and presented to a predefined lookup table of the ejector force and pitch settings for the current aircraft flight conditions that is used to select the ejector force and pitch settings for the current flight conditions.

6 . The dynamic store ejection system according to claim 1 , wherein the aircraft flight conditions are digitally processed by the controller 202 and applied to at least one pre-coded algorithm that is used to select the ejector force and pitch settings for the current flight conditions.

7 . A method for releasing and ejecting a store from an aircraft having an operational envelope using a dynamic store ejection system, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) continuously receiving current flight conditions during flight of the aircraft and receiving store characteristics by at least one controller having at least one processer and memory, wherein the current flight conditions comprise indicated air speed, multi-axis accelerations, altitude/temperature, pitch, yaw, roll rates, dynamic pressure, and angle of attack and wherein store characteristics comprise mass, shape and center of gravity of the store;

(b) after step (a), to continuously digitally processing the received current flight conditions during flight, continuously determining desired force and pitch settings by the at least one controller based on the current flight conditions during flight and the characteristics of the store; and automatically and continuously adjusting current force and pitch settings during flight to the desired force and pitch settings using force and pitch adjusters, and wherein the at least one controller updates the desired force and the desired pitch and adjusts the force setting to the desired force and the pitch setting to the desired pitch at a rate greater than 10 Hz;

(c) determining by the controller whether an instruction to release the store has been received during flight; and

(d) if an instruction to release the store has been received during flight, releasing and ejecting the store away from the aircraft while the aircraft is anywhere within its operational envelope.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the step of automatically and continuously adjusting current force and pitch settings during flight to the desired force and pitch settings using force and pitch adjusters is performed only if the current force and pitch settings are different than the desired force and pitch settings.

9 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the step of automatically and continuously adjusting current force and pitch settings during flight to the desired force and pitch settings using force and pitch adjusters is performed regardless of whether the current force and pitch settings are different than the desired force and pitch settings.

10 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the force adjuster operates a valve and/or adjusts an orifice.

11 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the pitch adjuster operates a valve and/or adjusts an orifice.

12 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the flight conditions include flap/spoiler settings and gear settings.

13 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the aircraft flight conditions are digitally processed by the controller and presented to a predefined lookup table of the ejector force and pitch settings for the current aircraft flight conditions that is used to select the ejector force and pitch settings for the current flight conditions.

14 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the aircraft flight conditions are digitally processed by the controller 202 and applied to at least one pre-coded algorithm that is used to select the ejector force and pitch settings for the current flight conditions.

15 . An aircraft having an operational envelope, said aircraft comprising:

a dynamic store ejector having a plurality of suspension hooks for supporting and selectively releasing a store, and a plurality of ejector pistons for selectively pushing the store downward and away from the aircraft;

at least one force adjuster configured to selectively adjust a force setting that determines a force the ejector pistons of the store ejector push the store away from the aircraft;

at least one pitch adjuster configured to selectively adjust a pitch setting that determines a pitch the ejector pistons of the store ejector push the store away from the aircraft;

wherein the store has store characteristics including at least mass, shape and center of gravity;

wherein current flight conditions comprise indicated air speed, multi-axis accelerations, altitude/temperature, pitch, yaw, roll rates, dynamic pressure, and angle of attack;

at least one controller having at least one processor and memory, and configured to continuously receive current flight conditions of the aircraft during flight and to receive the store characteristics, to continuously digitally process the received current flight conditions during flight, to automatically and continuously signal the force adjuster to adjust the force setting during flight to a desired force based on the current flight conditions and the characteristics of the store and the pitch adjuster to adjust the pitch setting during flight to a desired pitch based on current flight conditions and the characteristics of the store, and to signal the store ejector to release and eject the store upon receiving a release signal during flight while the aircraft is anywhere within its operational envelope; and

wherein the at least one controller updates the desired force and the desired pitch and adjusts the force setting to the desired force and the pitch setting to the desired pitch at a rate greater than 10 Hz.

16 . The aircraft according to claim 15 , wherein the force adjuster operates a valve and/or adjusts a size of an orifice.

17 . The aircraft according to claim 15 , wherein the pitch adjuster operates a valve and/or adjusts a size of an orifice.

18 . The aircraft according to claim 15 , wherein the flight conditions include flap/spoiler settings and gear settings.

19 . The aircraft according to claim 15 , wherein the aircraft flight conditions are digitally processed by the controller and presented to a predefined lookup table of the ejector force and pitch settings for the current aircraft flight conditions that is used to select the ejector force and pitch settings for the current flight conditions.

20 . The aircraft according to claim 15 , wherein the aircraft flight conditions are digitally processed by the controller 202 and applied to at least one pre-coded algorithm that is used to select the ejector force and pitch settings for the current flight conditions.