Aeronautics and astronautics – Aircraft – heavier-than-air – Airplane and fluid sustained
Patent
1987-03-02
1989-02-14
Barefoot, Galen
Aeronautics and astronautics
Aircraft, heavier-than-air
Airplane and fluid sustained
244 34A, 244 51, 244 52, D12335, B64C 310, B64C 2900
Patent
active
048041556
ABSTRACT:
A VTOL aircraft having a fuselage with fixed ring wings on either side thereof. Each ring wing has a rearwardly extending nacelle associated with it. Each nacelle has a ring tail empennage at its after end and a propulsor fan in its nose operating in the bore of its associated ring wing. The propulsor fans provide propulsion thrust for conventional flight in which the flow created over the lifitng surfaces due to forward velocity of the aircraft generates lift for flight. The propulsor fans operate to induce a flow over the lifting surfaces to generate lift for VTOL flight without a requirement for forward velocity by the aircraft. Aerodynamic control means such as spoilers are provided in the ring wings and empennages for pitch, roll, and yaw control in conventional flight. Thrust reacting and vectoring means are provided in the empennages to vector propulsor fan slipstream in VTOL flight for pitch and yaw control and to react forward travel due to propulsor thrust such that fully controlled vertical flight is produced. A coordinated action of the spoilers in conventional flight and of the wing spoilers and thrust reacting and vectoring means in VTOL flight produces controlled moments transverse to the normal line of flight. In another embodiment, the aircraft has a single ring wing mounted substantially coaxially on the fuselage and a ring tail empennage mounted coaxially on the after end thereof. A propulsor fan operating in the bore of the wing provides propulsion thrust for conventional flight and "blows" the lifting surfaces for VTOl flight. The empennage provides directional control for all phases of flight and also reacts and vectors propulsor thrust to control the aircraft and to regulate forward travel such that fully controlled VTOl flight is obtained. In a further embodiment, a channel wing instead of a ring wing is used.
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