Aeronautics and astronautics – Aircraft – heavier-than-air – Fluid sustained
Patent
1987-01-21
1988-09-27
Barefoot, Galen
Aeronautics and astronautics
Aircraft, heavier-than-air
Fluid sustained
B64C 2900, B64C 3906
Patent
active
047736186
ABSTRACT:
A high-speed vertical take-off and land (HSVTOL) aircraft comprises a disk-shaped body with a annular rotor having a rotatable fan assembly driven by redirected jet exhaust gases. The rotatable fan assembly includes fan blades, each with movable airfoil portions, and stationary flap portions with nozzles located on the trailing edges. Low pressure inflatable O-ring seals and bearings are positioned along a labyrinth interface between the disk-shaped body and the rotor. The rotatable fan assembly of the rotor is connected to an annular plenum receiving the hot exhaust gases. For vertical flight, substantially all of the hot exhaust gases of the turbojet engines are redirected into the plenum by main bypass and control bypass doors. Converging ducts located in the rotor just upstream of the rotatable fan assembly receive and direct the hot exhaust gases from the plenum to radially extending feed tubes connected to the nozzles. The rotor rotates about the disk-shaped body by the reaction force created from the emission of the exhaust gases from the nozzles. Lift of the aircraft is principally provided by the action of the fan assembly; but also by the reaction force of the hot gas from the nozzles. The primary lift force in vertical flight comes from opening the movable airfoil portion of the blades scooping ambient air into the fan assembly and causing a downwash past the stationary flap portions, which in turn provides lift. The pitch of the movable airfoil portions of the fan blades may be changed to modulate the lift. For horizontal flight, the movable airfoil portions are gradually closed to create an aerodynamic, low drag disk. The bypass doors within the jet engines are opened to allow normal jet operation and cut off flow to the fan assembly. Sufficient rotational velocity of the fan assembly is maintained during horizontal flight to maintain gyroscopic stablility. Gyroscopic attitude control is achieved through all phases of aircraft flight, both vertical and horizontal. Specifically, eyeball valves are selectively and cyclically operated to regulate the hot exhaust gases being ejected from the nozzles along the lower edge of the blades causing the aircraft to pitch and roll, as required.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2667226 (1954-01-01), Doblhoff
patent: 2863621 (1958-12-01), Davis
patent: 2988152 (1961-06-01), Katzenberger et al.
patent: 3182929 (1965-05-01), Lemberger
patent: 3327969 (1967-06-01), Head
patent: 3514053 (1970-05-01), McGuinness
Barefoot Galen
Corl Rodney
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