High-speed, vertical take-off and landing aircraft
OwnerJoseph John Andrewsinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A high-speed vertical take-off and landing aircraft has a lifting structure, a first rotor with a first and second blade, a second rotor with a first and second blade, an auxiliary propulsion unit for providing forward thrust, and a control system for controlling the pitch of each of the rotor blades. The aircraft has a first, rotor-only, flight mode for hovering and low speed maneuvering. It also has a second flight mode where the rotors are held in at fixed azimuth angles and forward thrust is provided by the auxiliary propulsion unit. Three axis control is provided during the second flight mode by adjusting the attack angles of the fixed rotor blades. Between these two flight modes, there is an intermediate flight mode covering a fully controlled transition between the first two flight modes.
Claims20
An aircraft comprising:
- a) a lifting structure;
- b) a first rotor comprising:
- i) a first blade;
- and
- ii) a second blade;
- c) a second rotor comprising:
- i) a first blade;
- and
- ii) a second blade;
- d) an auxiliary propulsion unit;
- and
- e) a control system adapted to independently control an attack angle of each of said blades, wherein:
- f) said first rotor:
- i) is operable to be rotated about a first mast to provide lift during a first flight mode;
- and
- ii) is operable to be held at a constant first azimuth angle during a second flight mode;
- g) said second rotor:
- i) is operable to be rotated about a second mast to provide lift during said first flight mode;
- and
- ii) is operable to be held at a constant second azimuth angle during said second flight mode;
- h) said auxiliary propulsion unit is operable to provide forward thrust during said second flight mode;
- i) to provide control to said aircraft during said second flight mode, said control system is operable to:
- i) vary an attack angle of said first blade of said first rotor by a roll control angle;
- and
- ii) vary said attack angle of said first blade of said second rotor by about-a negative of said roll control angle;
- and
- j) to provide pitch control to said aircraft during said second flight mode, said control system is operable to:
- i) vary said attack angle of said second blade of said first rotor by a pitch control angle;
- and
- ii) vary said attack angle of said second blade of said second rotor by about said pitch control angle.
An aircraft comprising:
- a) a lifting structure comprising:
- i) a first winglet;
- and
- ii) a second winglet;
- b) a first rotor comprising:
- i) a first blade;
- and
- ii) a second blade;
- c) a second rotor comprising:
- i) a first blade;
- and
- ii) a second blade;
- d) an auxiliary propulsion unit;
- and
- e) a control system adapted to independently control an angle of attack of each of said blades
- wherein:
- f) said first rotor:
- i) is mounted above or below said first winglet;
- ii) is adapted to be rotated about a first mast to provide lift during a first flight mode and an intermediate flight mode;
- g) said second rotor:
- i) is mounted above or below said second winglet;
- ii) is adapted to be rotated about a second mast to provide lift during said first flight mode and said intermediate flight mode;
- h) said auxiliary propulsion unit is adapted to provide forward thrust during said intermediate flight mode;
- and
- i) said control system is adapted to provide roll, pitch, and yaw control to said aircraft during said first flight mode and said intermediate flight mode, wherein to provide said roll control, the control system is further operable to:
- i) vary an angle of attack of said first blade of said first rotor by a roll control angle;
- and
- ii) vary said angle of attack of said first blade of said second rotor by a negative of said roll control angle, and
- j) to provide said pitch control, said control system is operable to:
- i) vary said angle of attack of said second blade of said first rotor by a pitch control angle;
- and
- ii) vary said angle of attack of said second blade of said second rotor by about said pitch control angle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.