Assisted landing systems for rotorcraft
AssigneeTextron Innovations Inc.
InventorsFrank Bradley Stamps, Michael K. McNair, John Richard McCullough
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A propulsion assembly for a rotorcraft includes a blade assembly, a drive shaft coupled to the blade assembly and an electric motor coupled to the drive shaft and operable to provide rotational energy to the drive shaft to rotate the blade assembly. The propulsion assembly includes a landing assistance turbine coupled to the drive shaft and operable to selectively provide rotational energy to the drive shaft during an underpowered descent to rotate the blade assembly and provide upward thrust, thereby reducing a descent rate of the rotorcraft prior to landing.
Claims20
A propulsion assembly for a rotorcraft, the propulsion assembly comprising:
- a blade assembly;
- a drive shaft coupled to the blade assembly;
- an electric motor coupled to the drive shaft and operable to provide rotational energy to the drive shaft to rotate the blade assembly;
- and
- a landing assistance turbine including a solid fuel chamber adapted to contain a solid fuel, an oxidant chamber adapted to contain an oxidant and a throttle operable to selectively release the oxidant for combustion with the solid fuel, the landing assistance turbine coupled to the drive shaft and operable to selectively provide rotational energy to the drive shaft during an underpowered descent to rotate the blade assembly and provide upward thrust, thereby reducing a descent rate of the rotorcraft prior to landing.
A rotorcraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- and
- a plurality of propulsion assemblies coupled to the fuselage, each propulsion assembly including:
- a blade assembly;
- a drive shaft coupled to the blade assembly;
- an electric motor coupled to the drive shaft and operable to provide rotational energy to the drive shaft to rotate the blade assembly;
- and
- a landing assistance turbine including a solid fuel chamber adapted to contain a solid fuel, an oxidant chamber adapted to contain an oxidant and a throttle operable to selectively release the oxidant for combustion with the solid fuel, the landing assistance turbine coupled to the drive shaft and operable to selectively provide rotational energy to the drive shaft during an underpowered descent to rotate the blade assembly and provide upward thrust, thereby reducing a descent rate of the rotorcraft prior to landing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.