Derivation Method on Minimum-Time for Formation Reconfiguration of Fixed-Wing Aircraft using Reachable Limits

Abstract

In this paper, a method to derive the minimum-time for formation reconfiguration of cruising two fixed-wing aircraft is proposed. Conventionally, the optimal reconfiguration problem is formulated as an optimal control problem by treating the aircraft as one system. In this paper, it is shown that the solution for this problem is driven by solutions for optimal control problem of single aircraft. The terminal values of this problem, which mean reachable limits of each aircraft, are consolidated efficiently, providing the time for the reconfiguration.