Partial cascade thrust reverser

A thrust reverser for a jet engine, said jet engine including an annular casing circumscribing a fluid flow duct, said thrust reverser comprising:

• a translating wall section moveable between a first wall position and a second wall position, said translating wall section being adjacent said annular casing when in said first sleeve position, at least a portion of said translating wall section being separated from said annular casing by a space when said wall section is in said second wall position thereby creating an aperture between said annular casing and said translating wall section, said aperture including a forward aperture edge defined by said annular casing and an aft aperture edge defined by said translating wall section;
• a cascading flow reverser supported by said translating wall section for directing a fluid flow in a direction generally forward relative to said jet engine when in said second position, said reverser extending only partially into a path of a fluid flowing through said aperture such that only a portion of said fluid flowing through said aperture engages said reverser, said cascading flow reverser including a forward reverser edge and an aft reverser edge, wherein a first distance between said forward aperture edge and said aft aperture edge is greater than a second distance between said forward reverser edge and said aft reverser edge;
• and
• a blocker door operably connected to said translating wall section such that when said translating wall section moves from said first wall position to said second wall position, said blocker door moves from a first door position to a second door position, said second door position being interposed in said fluid flow duct.

A thrust reverser for a jet engine, said jet engine including an annular fan casing circumscribing a fluid flow duct, said thrust reverser comprising:

• a sleeve including—
• a translating wall section, and
• a translating cowling,
• said sleeve moveable between a first sleeve position and a second sleeve position, said sleeve being adjacent said annular fan casing when in said first sleeve position, at least a portion of said sleeve being separated from said annular fan casing by a space when said sleeve is in said second sleeve position thereby creating an aperture between said annular fan casing and said translating sleeve, said aperture providing a fluid flow path from said fluid flow duct to an outside of said jet engine, said aperture including a forward aperture edge defined by said annular fan casing and an aft aperture edge defined by said translating sleeve;
• a cascading fluid flow reverser supported by said sleeve for directing a fluid flow in a direction generally forward relative to said jet engine when in said second position, said reverser extending only partially into said fluid flow path such that only a portion of a fluid flowing through said aperture engages said reverser, and said reverser including a forward reverser edge and an aft reverser edge, wherein a first distance between said forward aperture edge and said aft aperture edge is greater than a second distance between said forward reverser edge and said aft reverser edge;
• and
• a blocker door operably connected to the sleeve such that when said sleeve moves from said first sleeve position to said second sleeve position, said blocker door moves from a first door position to a second door position, said second door position being interposed in said fluid flow duct.

A method of reversing the thrust of a jet engine, the method comprising:

• moving a translating wall section from a first wall position adjacent a fixed portion of said jet engine to a second wall position separated from said fixed portion by a space thereby creating an aperture between said translating wall section and said fixed portion;
• moving a blocker door from a first door position to a second door position, wherein said blocker door impedes an internal fluid stream through said jet engine when in said second door position thereby directing said fluid stream through said aperture;
• and
• placing a fluid flow reverser element such that said fluid flow reverser element engages only a first portion of fluid of said fluid stream and directs said first portion of fluid in a direction generally forward relative to said jet engine.