Method of landing an aircraft
A method of landing an aircraft in which the aircraft receives information from a second aircraft via a direct aircraft-to-aircraft communication from the second aircraft to the aircraft; determines a landing plan of the aircraft based on the information; and lands the aircraft based on the landing plan. The use of a direct aircraft-to-aircraft communication (i.e. a communication from the second aircraft to the first aircraft which does not travel via an intermediary such as a land station, air traffic controller or satellite) makes the method reliable because such a communication is inherently secure and difficult to hack.
1. A method of landing a first aircraft, wherein the first aircraft comprises a landing system, and the first aircraft is in a virtual fleet of aircraft, the method comprising operating the landing system to:
receive information from a second aircraft in the virtual fleet via a direct aircraft-to-aircraft communication from the second aircraft to the first aircraft;
generate or optimize a set of landing plans for the virtual fleet using the information, wherein the set of landing plans includes landing plans for aircraft in the virtual fleet, wherein the aircraft in the virtual fleet are aircraft flying toward the same airport;
select the landing plan for the first aircraft from the landing plans;
land the first aircraft based on the landing plan for the first aircraft, wherein the first aircraft is ahead of the other aircraft in the virtual fleet in approaches to the airport, and
the first aircraft sends at least one of the landing plans to the second aircraft, wherein the second aircraft is behind the first aircraft in approaching the airport and is ahead of all of the aircraft in the virtual fleet except for the first aircraft.
2. The method of landing an aircraft according to claim 1 , wherein the landing plan for the first aircraft comprises at least one of: an approach air speed, a runway speed profile, a braking command profile, a thrust reverser command profile, a spoiler deployment profile, an exit from the runway, or a taxiing route.
3. The method of landing an aircraft according to claim 1 , wherein the generation of the landing plans includes revision of an initial landing plan for the first aircraft.
4. The method of landing an aircraft according to claim 1 , wherein the set of landing plans is optimized for the entire virtual fleet.
5. The method of landing an aircraft according to claim 4 , wherein the optimization of the set of landing plans is performed with an evolutionary algorithm.
6. The method of landing an aircraft according to claim 1 , wherein the information received from the second aircraft is information associated with the second aircraft.
7. The method of landing an aircraft according to claim 6 , wherein the information received from the second aircraft comprises at least one of: a static aircraft parameter of the second aircraft; status information of the second aircraft; schedule information of the second aircraft; or a landing plan of the second aircraft.
8. The method of landing an aircraft according to claim 6 , further comprising operating the landing system to receive further information associated with a third aircraft of the virtual fleet;
wherein the generation of the set of landing plans is based on the information received from the second aircraft and the further information associated with the third aircraft.
9. The method of landing an aircraft according to claim 8 , wherein the further information associated with the third aircraft is received via a direct aircraft-to-aircraft communication to the first aircraft from the second aircraft or the third aircraft.
10. The method of landing an aircraft according to claim 1 , wherein the landing plan of the first aircraft is transmitted to the second aircraft via a direct aircraft-to-aircraft communication from the first aircraft to the second aircraft.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the landing plan for the first aircraft includes a plan to decelerate the first aircraft during landing or a runway exit from a runway on which the first aircraft lands.
12. A first aircraft in a virtual fleet of aircraft, wherein the first aircraft includes:
a receiver arranged to receive information from at least one other aircraft in the virtual fleet via a direct aircraft-to-aircraft communication between the at least one other aircraft and the first aircraft;
one or more actuators in the first aircraft configured to land the first aircraft based on a landing plan of the first aircraft, and
a processor configured to:
use the information, to generate or optimize a set of landing plans for the aircraft in the virtual fleet, wherein the aircraft in the virtual fleet are aircraft flying toward the same airport, and
select from the set of landing plans, the landing plan for the first aircraft;
wherein the first aircraft is ahead of the other aircraft in the virtual fleet in approaches to the airport, and
wherein the first aircraft is configured to send at least one of the landing plans to the at least one other aircraft, wherein the at least one other aircraft is behind the first aircraft in approaching the airport and is ahead of all of the aircraft in the virtual fleet except for the first aircraft.
13. A pair of aircraft comprising:
the first aircraft according to claim 12 ; and
a second aircraft of the virtual fleet arranged to transmit the information to the first aircraft via the direct aircraft-to-aircraft communication from the second aircraft to the first aircraft.
14. A method of landing a first aircraft in a virtual fleet of aircraft, the first aircraft comprises a landing system and the method comprises operating the landing system to:
receive a landing plan from at least one other aircraft of the virtual fleet;
input the landing plan from the at least one other aircraft of the virtual fleet into an optimization algorithm which determines a set of landing plans for the virtual fleet of aircraft which is optimized for the entire virtual fleet, wherein the aircraft in the virtual fleet are aircraft flying toward the same airport, the set of landing plans for the virtual fleet of aircraft including a landing plan of the first aircraft; and
land the first aircraft based on the landing plan of the first aircraft, wherein the first aircraft is ahead of the other aircraft in the virtual fleet in approaches to the airport, and
the first aircraft sends at least one of the landing plans to the at least one other aircraft, wherein the at least one other aircraft is behind the first aircraft in approaching the airport and is ahead of all of the aircraft in the virtual fleet except for the first aircraft.