Methodology for Automated Supersonic Flight Path Routing and Optimization

Abstract

A methodology is presented for automatically designing and optimizing flight paths for civilian supersonic airplanes on long-haul flights. The paths are rerouted over water to avoid the landfall of emitted sonic booms. The toolchain consists of all-proprietary modules for flight path drafting, mission trajectory simulation, sonic boom carpet computation, and coastline modification. The latter constitutes a novel approach to path finding. The method's realism is enhanced by employing 3-D atmospheres including winds.