A Study on Aircraft Performance Model by using Cargo Flight Data

Abstract

Many papers have been published on air traffic management research. In those papers, BADA model which was developed by EUROCONTROL is often used, however, few papers have discussed accuracy of the BADA model. This paper investigates the accuracy of BADA model by using cargo flight data which includes weight data recorded more accurately than passenger aircraft. Fuel flow, its statistic tendency and fuel consumption with different Cost Index (CI) calculated by BADA model are compared with flight data. The results show that fuel flow is almost identical for every part of flight phase except for descent phase with flaps and landing gear extended. Furthermore, flight state estimation information is compared with the flight data. Flight state estimation only requires the position information such as surveillance radar data from the ground, numerical weather prediction data and aircraft weight. The results have revealed that flight state information including fuel flow can be estimated accurately in most parts of flight. Next, the optimal trajectories generated by BADA model and numerical weather prediction data are studied as another part of the model evaluation analysis. The optimal trajectory calculated so as to minimize fuel consumption and flight time plays key role in the future four-dimensional trajectory based operation as well as potential benefit analysis. The tendency of fuel consumption and flight time change due to CI is almost agree. The air speeds, however, are different. Therefore, it is difficult to estimate flight time even if the CI is given.