US 12,129,020 B2
Aircraft electric taxi system design and operation
Isaiah W. Cox, London (GB); Jan Vana, Prague (CZ); Joseph J. Cox, Portland, OR (US); and Yonatan Rotenberg, Miami, FL (US)
Assigned to Borealis Technical Limited, Isle of Man (IM)
Filed by Borealis Technical Limited, North Plains, OR (US)
Filed on Dec. 13, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/549,422.
Application 17/549,422 is a continuation in part of application No. 16/207,118, filed on Dec. 1, 2018, granted, now 11,235,865, issued on Feb. 1, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/593,517, filed on Dec. 1, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2022/0126987 A1, Apr. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. B64C 25/32 (2006.01)
CPC B64C 25/405 (2013.01) 8 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for moving an aircraft equipped with pilot-controlled landing gear wheel-mounted electric taxi drive systems designed to produce a torque effective to drive the aircraft during a majority of aircraft ground travel at an airport and moving the equipped aircraft during infrequent breakaway ground travel situations with the pilot-controlled landing gear wheel-mounted electric taxi drive systems operating in conjunction with the equipped aircraft steering system, comprising:
a. providing an aircraft equipped with nose landing gear wheel-mounted pilot-controlled electric taxi drive systems comprising at least electric drive motors designed and sized to produce a level of torque effective to move the equipped aircraft during the majority of electric taxi drive system-powered ground travel, the level of effective ground travel torque limited to less than a level of breakaway torque required to move the equipped aircraft during a breakaway situation, and providing a steering system in the equipped aircraft operable by a pilot to turn the nose landing gear wheels in a selected direction through a range of angles with a longitudinal axis of the aircraft comprising angles from about 1 degree to about 90 degrees;
b. during the majority of electric taxi drive system-powered ground travel of the equipped aircraft at the airport, operating the pilot-controlled electric taxi drive systems and moving the equipped aircraft with the electric taxi drive systems at the level of ground travel torque that moves the equipped aircraft with the nose landing gear wheels positioned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the equipped aircraft;
c. during a breakaway situation when the equipped aircraft is not moving or has stopped moving, simultaneously operating the electric taxi drive systems and turning the nose landing gear wheels with the steering system from the parallel position through the range of angles to an identified angle within the range of angles that effectively causes the equipped aircraft to move out of the breakaway situation, and moving the equipped aircraft out of the breakaway situation with the simultaneously operating electric taxi drive systems and the nose landing gear wheels turned to the identified effective angle; and
d. when the equipped aircraft has broken away, operating the steering system and turning the nose landing gear wheels of the broken away equipped aircraft from the identified effective angle to the parallel position or to a position that steers the equipped aircraft in a desired direction of ground travel, and continuing to move the equipped aircraft with the nose landing gear wheels turned to the parallel position or to the desired direction of ground travel while simultaneously operating the electric taxi drive systems at the level of ground travel torque effective to continue to move the equipped aircraft during the majority of ground travel at the airport.