| CPC G07C 5/0808 (2013.01) [G07C 5/004 (2013.01); G07C 5/008 (2013.01); G07C 5/085 (2013.01)] | 48 Claims |
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1. A computerized method of evaluating performance of an aircraft, comprising the steps of:
receiving flight data regarding flights taken by an aircraft over a period of time, the flight data representing data recorded by one or more onboard flight data recorders during said period of time, the flight data including a plurality of data points, each of said data points identifying a plurality of flight parameters and aircraft component operation information at respectively different moments in time of flight by the aircraft, the aircraft component operation information including data regarding settings of control surfaces of the aircraft;
analyzing the flight data to identify the data points that include at least one flight parameter that represents a non-cruise condition;
filtering the flight data to remove the identified data points to produce a first reduced-size data set that includes only data points that represent a stable cruise condition;
analyzing the first reduced-size data to identify the data points that include at least one aircraft component operation information that represents a control surface that is out-of-tolerance;
filtering the first reduced-size data set to remove the data points identified as including at least one aircraft component operation information that represents a control surface that is out-of-tolerance to produce a second reduced-size data set;
analyzing the first and second reduced-size data sets to ascertain a fuel efficiency that would be gained if the control surfaces of the aircraft that are out-of-tolerance are re-rigged to be in-tolerance;
supplying as an output data identifying at least the ascertained fuel efficiency; and
identifying one or more of said control surfaces of the aircraft for rerigging.
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