Assembly and method for helicopter anti-torque
AssigneeTextron Innovations Inc.
InventorsMarc Bustamante, Thuvaragan Senthilnathan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An anti-torque assembly for a helicopter includes a plurality of fans pivotably mountable to a tail boom. The fans have fan blades rotatable about a fan axis. One or more of the fans is pivotable relative to the tail boom to a first configuration. The fan axes in the first configuration have an upright orientation and the fans are operable to one or both of pitch and roll the helicopter. Different fans are operable to generate thrust to provide anti-torque to the helicopter. A method of providing anti-torque and method of changing an attitude of a helicopter are also provided.
Claims27
A helicopter, comprising:
- a fuselage and a tail boom extending therefrom;
- and
- a plurality of fans pivotably mounted to the tail boom, the fans having fan blades rotatable about a fan axis, one or more of the fans being pivotable relative to the tail boom to a first configuration, the fan axes of the fans in the first configuration having an upright orientation, the one or more fan axes of one or more different fans of the plurality of fans of the tail boom such that said one or more different fans are operable to generate thrust to provide anti-torque to the helicopter.
An anti-torque assembly for a helicopter having a tail boom, the anti-torque assembly comprising:
- a plurality of fans pivotably mountable to the tail boom and having fan blades rotatable about a fan axis, one or more of the plurality of fans being pivotable relative to the tail boom to a first configuration, the fan axes of the fans in the first configuration having an upright orientation and operable to one or both of pitch and roll the helicopter, and different fans of the plurality of fans of the tailboom operable to generate thrust to provide anti-torque to the helicopter.
A method of changing an attitude of a helicopter having fans pivotably mounted at an aft end of a tail boom, the method comprising:
- pivoting one or more of the fans relative to the tail boom to orient an axis of the one or more fans upright;
- generating thrust with the one or more fans in an upward direction or a downward direction to cause the helicopter to one or both of pitch and roll;
- and
- generating thrust with one or more different fans of the tail boom in a horizontal direction to provide anti-torque to the helicopter.
A method of providing anti-torque to a helicopter having fans pivotably mounted at an aft end of a tail boom, the method comprising:
- generating horizontal thrust with some of the fans to provide anti-torque to the helicopter;
- pivoting one or more different fans relative to the tail boom to orient an axis of the one or more different fans upright;
- and
- generating thrust with the one or more different fans in a vertical direction to cause the helicopter to one or both of pitch and roll.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.