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US 11,685,515 B2Granted
Active horizontal stabilizer for high speed rotorcraft
AssigneeTextron Innovations Inc.
InventorsLuke Dafydd Gillett, James Rigsby, Jeffrey Kirkman, Craig Lovell, Andrew Carter, Aaron Alexander Acee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotorcraft has a horizontal stabilizer movable about an axis of rotation and a horizontal stabilizer control system configured to control the horizontal stabilizer to at least one of move the rotorcraft into a minimum drag position, maintain the aircraft in a minimum drag position, efficiently achieve a maneuver, enter efficient autorotation, and maintain efficient autorotation.
Claims18
A rotorcraft, comprising:
- a main rotor system;
- a tail boom;
- a tail rotor carried by the tail boom;
- a horizontal stabilizer carried by the tail boom, the horizontal stabilizer comprising a leading edge and the leading edge being movable about an axis of rotation relative to the tail boom;
- and
- a horizontal stabilizer control system configured to, in response to the rotorcraft entering autorotation, control the horizontal stabilizer to automatically and without pilot input maximize airflow to the main rotor without requiring a change in pitch of the main rotor system and without prioritizing maintaining a constant longitudinal attitude of the rotorcraft.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.