Patent ID: 7827965

Claim:
A piston aircraft engine assembly, comprising: a piston aircraft engine; a fuel source; and a control system adapted to deliver fuel from the fuel source to the piston aircraft engine, the control system including: a mass airflow sensing apparatus adapted provide a pressure signal, an electronic engine controller coupled to the mass airflow sensing apparatus, the electronic engine controller being adapted to (i) receive the pressure signal from the mass airflow sensing apparatus and (ii) generate a set of fuel injector signals based on the pressure signal received from the mass airflow sensing apparatus, and a set of fuel injectors adapted to meter the fuel in response to the set of fuel injector signals generated by the electronic engine controller; wherein the mass airflow sensing apparatus of the control system includes a Venturi meter device having an inlet portion adapted to receive air from an air source, and an outlet portion adapted to output the air to a manifold of the piston aircraft engine; wherein the Venturi meter device further includes a constricted portion disposed between the inlet portion and the outlet portion, the constricted portion being adapted to cause a change in pressure as the air passes from the inlet portion to the outlet portion through the constricted portion; wherein the mass airflow sensing apparatus of the control system further includes a differential pressure sensor adapted to (i) measure a pressure difference between the inlet portion of the Venturi meter device and the constricted portion of the Venturi meter device, and (ii) output, as the pressure signal, an electronic signal to the electronic engine controller, the electronic signal representing the pressure difference; wherein the electronic engine controller, when generating the set of fuel injector signals based on the pressure signal received from the mass airflow sensing apparatus, is adapted to: generate a first airflow result approximating an amount of air mass flowing through the Venturi meter device based on the electronic signal outputted by the differential pressure sensor; generate a second airflow result based on (i) the first airflow result and (ii) a correction factor which compensates for turbulence in the Venturi meter device, the second airflow result more accurately approximating the amount of air mass flowing through the Venturi meter device than the first airflow result; and output the set of fuel injector signals based on the second airflow result.