The goal of 10 % reduction of CO2 emissions is now referred to in the short term by Thales, which includes optimizing the trajectories of planes. By shortening the routes between airports, fuel consumption is reduced accordingly. Mechanically, the emissions of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and NOx (oxides of nitrogen) reduced in proportion. Other savings relate to all of the hourly costs of an aircraft (maintenance, crews, route charges, etc).
The first tool to be developed by the equipment manufacturer, French is a new version PureFlyt of the FMS of the aircraft. The Flight Management System – of which Thales is one of three world experts in FMS with Honeywell and General Electric, and the only European – can be considered as the central computer, the largest aircraft in the cockpit. It guides the aircraft from takeoff to landing in the now high up in a narrow corridor of 100 metres wide, is set by the navigation service. The FMS is able to choose the speed appropriate to the time-of-flight for the shortest or minimum consumption of fuel. The speed range of an aircraft, however, remains narrow in relation to a road vehicle. Reduced too much causes immediately an increase of the aerodynamic drag (and thus consumption) with a dangerous approach of the stall…
The pilot at the center of the system
practical Example on the occasion of a flight Lisbon-Paris in the simulator. A flight plan has been filed through Spain and the bay of Biscay. But, shortly after takeoff, the pilot receives on its tablet an update on the weather situation. Thunderstorm cells are developing faster than expected on the north coast of spain and portugal. To avoid, because it is not a question of crossing a cumulonimbus cloud, a cloud that is deadly to a plane. The driver anticipates the avoidance of the dangerous area and the FMS automatically sends requests to alter road to the various control centres concerned in Portugal, Spain and France. In anticipating, lengthening of journey times is marginal, of the order of a minute, or 25 pounds of fuel. If the storm had been detected by the radar aboard with only 25 miles (40 kilometers) of range, crashed late would have been much more a result and 250 kilos of fuel would have been consumed.
“The system is more intelligent than the pilot,” notes one expert, ” but the pilot must understand what the system “. Overall, the strategy of Thales aims to provide assistance to the steering, keeping the man at the centre of the system. This mitigation of the burden of work does not exclude a decrease in the number of pilots in the cockpits, especially during long hours of cruising, a recurring demand of aircraft manufacturers and their airline customers.
The French civil aviation has been slow to upgrade offering on the screens of the controllers, the meteorological situation overall. Therefore, the controllers receive by radio or by data requests change of route without understanding why, which has caused, according to the Bureau of accident investigations, a situation that is unmanageable on July 14, 2010 the approach to Orly airport, where several planes have finished their flights with the tanks almost empty.
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hover
With the connections between the avionics on board and the air traffic control, we multiply the potential savings. In effect, it no longer manages here only trajectories, but the flow that can optimize in addition to the receptions at airports by better managing the allocation of gateways to landing. This Air Traffic Flow Management is already in service in Azerbaijan. Baku, of course, is not a major destination. On the other hand, this country that stretches from the Caspian sea to the mountain ranges of the Caucasus to organise a large part of the traffic between Asia and Europe. The efficiency of the air traffic control may depend on the punctuality at Roissy-CDG, or London.
PureFlyt guard commands throughout the volume, But any change must be validated by the pilot in the cockpit. Always to consume less and pollute less, the FMS continuously calculates what is the best trajectory to the finish. The principle is to stay as long as possible in altitude, where the engines are the least greedy, and then to descend in a hover, engine at idle. It also fulfills the residents ! The trajectory is transmitted in real time by the ecu of the cockpit to air traffic control, which has real-time performance of the aircraft. The means of telecommunication, embedded, currently closest to the minitel that of the high-speed, will need to be upgraded by satellite link and can be 5G.
Priority to aircraft recent
the development of The new FMS to Thales with the recent plan of financial support to the aviation carbon-could be accelerated to three years. PureFlyt is already functional. It could be certified at the end of next year, which will allow then to use it in volume to The large-scale deployment is expected in 2023 on new aircraft or those already in service. This possibility of retrofit will give a new youth to a plane of ten years, mid-life. The operation remains complicated, because the FMS must engage with thirty other applications (navigation, GPS, management engines, pressurization, etc), which requires as many certifications. The subject is very sensitive after the misadventures of the MCAS, a system supposed to stabilize the Boeing 737 MAX, now grounded after two crashes which were 346 victims.
The shy re-launch of international air traffic in the month of July comes to the de facto progress toward the airplane more green. Fault of passengers rather many, the fleets of the companies are reduced. Remain online devices the most successful and those whose size corresponds to the request. Thus, Air France can get rid of the Airbus A380 and A340. The three Boeing 747 from Corsair are parties to the dismantling for sale of spare parts. Air Caribbean and French Bee will fly the Airbus A350, which consume 15 % less than the A330 temporarily stored. Even Delta hammer on the ground its Boeing 777 is too much capacity for a slow recovery.
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