Patent ID: 9558671
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: G01C,G08G

Claim:
1. A method for aiding guidance of an aircraft to be guided and having to comply with at least one time constraint requiring a given passing time at a particular waypoint of a flight plan of the aircraft, comprising, in an automatic manner: determining, by a flight computer system, a reference speed which, if maintained by the aircraft along the flight plan, would cause the aircraft to be guided to comply with the time constraint; simulating, by the flight computer system, a reference aircraft, including simulating a flight of the reference aircraft along the flight plan at the reference speed, beginning to fly at the same instant and the same position as the aircraft to be guided and continuing to fly along the same flight plan as the aircraft to be guided; determining, by the flight computer system, a current offset in distance along the flight plan of the aircraft to be guided, in a course of its flight, with respect to a current simulated position of the reference aircraft that is simulated as continuing to fly along the same flight plan as the aircraft to be guided, in a repetitive manner and at a plurality of times in the course of flight of the aircraft to the particular waypoint of the flight plan of the aircraft and prior to arriving at the particular waypoint of the flight plan, on the aircraft to be guided; and indicating to a crew member of the aircraft at least the current offset in distance, by presenting the current offset on a viewing screen of the aircraft to be guided.