Back to results
US 11,440,644 B2Granted
Download reducing winglets for aircraft having a rotor producing downwash and method of operating the same
AssigneeTextron Innovations Inc.
InventorsKent E. Donaldson, Kyle Smolarek, Lynn Francis Eschete
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An exemplary aircraft includes a wing positioned below a vertical rotor, the wing extending to an outboard end, and an anhedral winglet extending from the outboard end through an angular transition to a tip, the anhedral winglet having an external surface exposed to the rotor downwash and the external surface is contoured to generate local wing lift in response to the rotor downwash.
Claims11
An aircraft, comprising:
- a rotor in operation producing a rotor downwash;
- a wing positioned below the rotor and extending to an outboard end;
- an anhedral winglet extending from the outboard end through an angular transition to a tip, the anhedral winglet having an external surface exposed to the rotor downwash, wherein the external surface is contiguous with a top surface of the wing and contoured to generate local wing lift in response to the rotor downwash;
- and
- a turbulence feature located on an upper side of the external surface and oriented to induce turbulence in the rotor downwash passing across the external surface,
- wherein the turbulence feature is located on the angular transition.
3 more elements
A method, comprising:
- operating an aircraft in a hover, the aircraft having a rotor producing a rotor downwash directed vertically downward onto a wing extending to an outboard end, and an anhedral winglet extending from the outboard end through an angular transition to a tip, the anhedral winglet having an external surface exposed to the rotor downwash;
- and
- triggering turbulence in the rotor downwash on the external surface of the anhedral winglet in response to a turbulence feature located on an upper side of the external surface, wherein the external surface is contiguous with a top surface of the wing, wherein the turbulence feature is located on the angular transition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.