A Basic Maneuver procedure is a single action undertaken by the aircraft, in contrast to most procedures in Aviator, which represent a series of actions that together comprise a common flying procedure.
Horizontal / Navigation
The Horizontal / Navigation strategy of a Basic Maneuver defines the primary action that the aircraft will perform. Some Horizontal / Navigation strategies allow you to specify a Vertical / Profile strategy, while others - those identified as 3D - determine both the horizontal and vertical maneuvering of the aircraft.
Click Help Me Choose to review brief descriptions of the available strategies. Click Copy to save the currently defined strategy to the clipboard; click Paste to define the strategy in this tab with properties currently saved to the clipboard.
Vertical / Profile
Vertical / Profile strategies can be specified for non-3D maneuvers. If you have selected a 3D maneuver for the Horizontal / Navigation strategy, then the Vertical / Profile tab will simply continue to display the selected Horizontal / Navigation strategy; in this situation, you can modify the strategy from this tab, but you will be unable to select a different strategy.
Click Help Me Choose to review brief descriptions of the available strategies. Click Copy to save the currently defined strategy to the clipboard; click Paste to define the strategy in this tab with properties currently saved to the clipboard.
Attitude / Performance / Fuel
The Attitude / Performance / Fuel tab provides controls for the type of flight that the aircraft is flying, its fuel flow, and propagation properties.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Flight Mode |
Defines the type of performance that is most applicable to the maneuver. Select a mode that correlates to the type of performance model that best suits the maneuver that the aircraft is flying. If you are modeling VTOL flight, select the Rotary Wing / Hover mode. In addition, the VTOL limits for altitude and forward flight TAS must be satisfied, the body Z-axis of the aircraft must within 10 degrees of vertical, and you must select the VTOL Perf Model method for Fuel Flow Source. |
| Fuel Flow Source |
Defines the method that will be used to determine fuel flow during the maneuver.
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| Override Fuel Flow | If you have selected the Override method for Fuel Flow Source, this field allows you to enter the Fuel Flow rate. In addition, you can select Scale fuel flow by density to scale the fuel flow based on the aircraft's actual altitude. If this option is disabled, the fuel flow will be calculated at the Default Cruise Altitude (if available), or at sea level. |
| Thrust Model Fuel... | If you have selected the Thrust Model method for Fuel Flow Source, click this button to define the Boost and Sustain fuel consumed and time limit properties that will be used to calculate the fuel flow rate. |
| Attitude Smooth Mode |
Controls the degree of smoothing that is performed when using a guidance strategy against a target that is using external ephemeris data to define its route. Smoothing corrects for discontinuities in the ephemeris data, but is a computationally intensive process; potentially prohibitively so for very large ephemeris files. If the ephemeris file includes the SmoothData keyword with the value, "Yes", then the procedure will not attempt smoothing, regardless of your selection for this control.
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| Start Attitude Blend Time | Defines the amount of time that the aircraft will spend transitioning from the attitude of the previous procedure to the attitude at the beginning of the maneuver. |
| Control Time Constant | Defines a smoothing constant for the performance of control surfaces; a large value increases control gains, while a small value decreases control gains. If you are observing roll oscillations or wobbling in the aircraft's flight path, a lower value for this property should reduce or eliminate the effect. |
Basic Stop Conditions
Each Basic Maneuver requires at least one stopping condition, which dictates when the maneuver will end regardless of whether any other goals were met. You can define more than one stopping condition if you want, and the maneuver will be stopped if any one of them is met.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Fuel State | Defines a minimum amount of fuel remaining before the aircraft will stop the maneuver. |
| Time of Flight | Defines a maximum duration that the aircraft will fly the maneuver. |
| Downrange | Defines a maximum ground distance that the aircraft will fly. |
Ceiling
The Ceiling control allows you to define how Aviator will respond if the maneuver attempts to exceed the aircraft's ceiling. Select Continue if ceiling exceeded to ignore a ceiling violation, Error when ceiling exceeded to make the procedure invalid if the ceiling must be violated, or Stop when ceiling exceeded to stop the maneuver at the maximum altitude.
Terrain
The Terrain control allows you to define how Aviator will respond if the maneuver intersects the terrain. Select Continue if terrain impacted to ignore a terrain intersection, Error when terrain impacted to make the procedure invalid if the terrain is intersected, or Stop when terrain impacted to stop the maneuver if the terrain is intersected. If the maneuver will be stopped, enter an Impact Time Offset to define the duration before the terrain intersection at which the maneuver will actually be stopped.