Flight management systems and methods for use with an aerial vehicle

摘要

The invention provides, in some aspects, flight management systems and methods that generate three-dimensional (3D) graphical representations (330) of airspace in a vicinity of an aircraft (201) (e.g., in flight or during take-off). Such systems can include a display and a processor that drives the display to generate a two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) depiction of flight path. In a first mode, the processor drives the display to generate a flexible highway-in-the-sky (HITS) flight path (520) having an endpoint that is fixed to a destination and having an origin that moves relative to a current location of the aerial vehicle (e.g., a path that "stays" with the vehicle). In a second mode, the processor drives the display to generate a depiction of a fixed HITS flight path that is fixed as to origin and destination and that does not move relative to the craft.