Thrust management and interface for aircraft taxi operations

Abstract

An aircraft electric taxi drive system may provide electric taxiing of an aircraft by integrating control of an electric drive and an engine during the taxi phase of a flight plan. In some embodiments, the engine may provide supplemental drive to the aircraft's wheels during electric taxiing. The engine may be maintained on while the electric drive provides the main driving force to the wheels. A controller may determine the criteria to operate the engine as the electric drive taxis the aircraft to achieve a target ground speed. In some embodiments, a pilot interface may integrate control of the electric drive and the engine into a single throttle control providing the pilot an intuitive and singular point to throttle the aircraft without having to decide which taxi source is providing the taxi driving force.