Vertical take-off and landing module of a fixed wing aircraft, and related method and system
AssigneePolitecnico Di Torino
InventorsAngelo Lerro, Piero Gili
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a vertical take-off and landing module (200) for a fixed-wing aircraft (110), which includes at least one vertically-acting propulsion unit (240), actuator means (245) and support means (230), so as to be adapted to be operatively connected to said aircraft (110). The actuator means (245) can move the propulsion unit (240) from the inside of the module (200) towards the outside, and vice versa, so that the propulsion unit (240) is adapted to generate a substantially vertical propulsive force during the aircraft take-off and landing phases.
Claims18
A fixed-wing aircraft adapted for vertical take-off and landing, comprising:
- a fuselage;
- a fixed-wing;
- and
- a module for supporting the vertical take-off and landing of the fixed-wing aircraft from a supporting plane, said module comprising:
- a support structure,
- at least one propulsion unit adapted to be mounted within the support structure,
- an actuator for moving said at least one propulsion unit from a region internal to the module defined by the support structure to a region external to the module, and
- one or more anchoring elements connecting the support structure to a bottom portion of the fuselage,
- wherein said actuator is adapted to linearly move said at least one propulsion unit transversely to the aircraft from the inside of the module towards the outside, and retractable during flight, and said at least one propulsion unit is adapted to generate a propulsive force substantially perpendicular to the supporting plane under the aircraft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.