Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsKurt David Murrow, Darek Tomasz Zatorski, Andrew Breeze-Stringfellow, Dominic Barone
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aircraft includes a fuselage; a wing coupled to, and extending from, the fuselage; and a propulsion system. The propulsion system includes a plurality of electric fans integrated into the wing and oriented to generate thrust along a vertical direction, the plurality of electric fans arranged along a length of the wing and including an outer-most electric fan along a transverse direction relative to the fuselage. The outer-most electric fan is at least one of a variable pitch fan or a variable speed fan to provide increased stability to the aircraft.
Claims18
An aircraft defining a vertical direction and a transverse direction, the aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- a wing coupled to, and extending from, the fuselage, the wing including a variable geometry portion forming an exhaust arrangement when moved to a vertical thrust position, the exhaust arrangement defining an arrangement length along the vertical direction;
- and
- a propulsion system comprising a plurality of electric fans integrated into the wing and oriented to generate thrust along the vertical direction, the plurality of electric fans arranged along a length of the wing and including an interior electric fan and an outermost electric fan along the transverse direction relative to the fuselage, the outermost electric fan defining a fan diameter and positioned on an opposing side of the interior electric fan from the fuselage, wherein the length is greater than or equal to the fan diameter, and wherein the outermost electric fan is configured as at least one of a variable pitch fan or a variable speed fan to provide increased stability to the aircraft.
An aircraft defining a vertical direction and a transverse direction, the aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- a fixed wing coupled to the fuselage and defining a variable geometry portion forming an exhaust arrangement when moved to a vertical thrust position, the exhaust arrangement defining an arrangement length along the vertical direction;
- and
- a propulsion system comprising a plurality of electric fans integrated into the wing and oriented to generate thrust along the vertical direction, the plurality of electric fans arranged along a length of the wing and including an interior electric fan and an outermost electric fan along the transverse direction relative to the fuselage, the outermost electric fan positioned on an opposing side of the interior electric fan from the fuselage, the outermost electric fan defining a fan diameter, wherein the arrangement length is greater than or equal to the fan diameter.
An aircraft defining a vertical direction and a transverse direction, the aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- a wing coupled to, and extending from, the fuselage, the wing including a variable geometry portion movable between a vertical thrust position and a forward thrust position;
- and
- a propulsion system comprising a plurality of electric fans integrated into the wing and oriented to generate thrust along the vertical direction, the plurality of electric fans arranged along a length of the wing and including an interior electric fan and an outermost electric fan along the transverse direction relative to the fuselage, the outermost electric fan positioned on an opposing side of the interior electric fan from the fuselage and being at least one of a variable pitch fan or a variable speed fan to provide increased stability to the aircraft, wherein the variable geometry portion includes at least one of a forward section or an aft section that is positioned outwardly of the outermost electric fan while at least partially covering the outermost electric fan when the variable geometry portion is in the forward thrust position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.