Vertical profile optimization for the Flight Management System CMA-9000 using the golden section search method

The current Flight Management System (FMS), CMA-9000, from CMC Electronics - Esterline, only optimizes the vertical flight profile in terms of aircraft speeds. This article defines a methodology that optimizes the vertical flight profile in terms of speeds and altitudes, obtaining a trajectory that reduces the global flight cost. The Performance Database (PDB) provided by CMC Electronics - Esterline is presently used on airplanes such as the Lockheed L-lOll and the Airbus A310. This PDB is used as the reference to design different trajectory optimization algorithms in order to obtain the altitude where the aircraft´s fuel efficiency is the best. These algorithms are compared with the Part-Task Trainer (PTT), simulator that represents the FMS CMA-9000, supplied by CMC Electronics - Esterline as well. To validate the results, the FlightSIM^® software is used, which considers a complete aircraft aerodynamic model for its simulations, giving accurate results and very close to reality.