Rotor hub fairing system for a counter-rotating, coaxial rotor system
AssigneeSikorsky Aircraft Corporation
InventorsFabio Bertolotti, Mark Scott, Brian Wake, T. Egolf, Duane McCormick, Ebru Usta, Stuart Ochs
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Abstract
A rotor hub fairing system includes an upper hub fairing, a lower hub fairing and a shaft fairing therebetween. The rotor hub fairing system reduces the total drag on a dual, counter-rotating, coaxial rotor system. Other aerodynamic structures may be mounted to the shaft fairing, hub fairings and airframe to facilitate flow around the upper and lower hub fairings to reduce flow separation and drag.
Claims24
A rotor hub fairing system for a counter rotating coaxial rotor system comprising:
- an upper hub fairing defined about an axis;
- a lower hub fairing defined about said axis;
- and
- an airfoil-shaped shaft fairing between said upper hub fairing and said lower hub fairing, said airfoil-shaped shaft fairing contoured to reduce a total drag of the rotor hub fairing system.
A rotor hub fairing system for a counter rotating coaxial rotor system comprising:
- an upper hub fairing defined about an axis;
- a lower hub fairing defined about said axis;
- and
- an airfoil-shaped shaft fairing between said upper hub fairing and said lower hub fairing, said shaft fairing defining a thickness to hub fairing diameter (t/D) greater than 0.35.
A coaxial rotor system aircraft comprising:
- an airframe having a rotor system pylon;
- an upper hub fairing defined about an axis;
- a lower hub fairing defined about said axis, said lower hub fairing adjacent said pylon;
- and
- an airfoil-shaped shaft fairing between said upper hub fairing and said lower hub fairing, said airfoil-shaped shaft fairing contoured to reduce a total drag of the rotor hub fairing system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.