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Logistical Aircraft gets patent for Control System Protocol
Sydney Curtis, CEO of Logistical Aircraft Company of North Carolina (LAC), has received a patent for a new protocol that could standardize flight control management systems in the future, and significantly reduce training costs for the aviation industry as a whole.
October 21, 2015 By Logistical Aircraft
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved Curtis’s patent application on September 8, 2015. Known as the Curtis Protocol, the flight control management system provides an interface that standardizes the division and selection of aircraft flight regimes and flight modes within the selected flight regimes.
Curtis, who designed The Curtis Protocol, said the technology will help pilots manage the two flight regimes–forward flight and vertical flight–by utilizing modern digital flight control management systems in a standardized format that will reduce pilot workload and the possibility of confusion in the cockpit.
“Aviation, and in particular piloting, has a strong, ingrained culture brought about by the very nature and evolved similarity of the various aircraft types,” Curtis said. “The Curtis Protocol provides a remedy to crew training and safety problems with a standard pilot interface that pilots will not find strange or counterintuitive.”
The Curtis Protocol incorporates a Control Mode Selector (CMS) that enables the pilot to tell the aircraft to enter a given operational regime via the systems logic of the particular type. A Vertical Velocity Control (VVC) operates only for vertical operation and deploys automatically when called for with these selections from the CMS and dispenses with the helicopter “collective” and twist throttle control.
Curtis said the protocol is not intended to change aviation culture, but to help pilots manage the two regimes of forward flight and vertical flight at a time when the concept of multi-role aircraft could gain acceptance as airlines and airports look for cost-effective ways of dealing with increasing airport traffic and make the future growth of rural air service financially viable.
“As the need for multi-role aircraft increases to meet future demands, so will the need for pilots who can switch safely and efficiently from one aircraft to another,” Curtis said. “The protocol will drastically reduce the amount of pilot training required to obtain qualifications in multi-role aircraft. This will result in a huge cost savings for the military and commercial aviation arenas.
Formed in June 2015, Logistical Aircraft Company consists of a group of seasoned aircraft industry veterans with dreams for a new generation of aircraft – one that flies and lands like a conventional aircraft, can use a loading bridge, and is extremely fast. Plans are underway to build a prototype of just such an aircraft, the SC-1.
The SC-1 is a short- to long-range multi-role aircraft, with the ability to make vertical take offs and landings on a regular basis to meet mission requirements. The SC-1 is a fixed wing aircraft, turbo-fan powered, with four identical fixed wings.
