Neural network aided aviation fuel consumption modeling

This thesis deals with the potential application of neural network technology to aviation fuel consumption estimation. This is achieved by developing neural networks representative jet aircraft. Fuel consumption information obtained directly from the pilot's flight manual was trained by the neural network. The trained network was able to accurately and efficiently estimate fuel consumption of an aircraft for a given mission. Statistical analysis was conducted to test the reliability of this model for all segments of flight. Since the neural network model does not require any wind tunnel testing nor extensive aircraft analysis, compared to existing models used in aviation simulation programs, this model shows good potential. The design of the model is described in depth, and the MATLAB source code are included in appendices.