Air Induction Control

An aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage;
• a pair of wings;
• an engine;
• an inlet defining an aperture to receive air for delivery to the engine, wherein the inlet has a longitudinal axis generally aligned with a direction of flow of the air as the air approaches the inlet;
• at least one first dielectric barrier discharge generator positioned to apply a first force to the air prior to the air being received by the engine, the first force acting in a first direction;
• and
• at least one second dielectric barrier discharge generator positioned to apply a second force to the air prior to the air being received by the engine, the second force acting in a second direction, wherein the second direction is non-parallel to the first direction.

A method, comprising:

• determining a flight condition of an aircraft;
• applying a first force to air moving relative to an engine inlet of the aircraft using at least one first dielectric barrier discharge generator, wherein the at least one first dielectric barrier discharge generator is upstream of the engine inlet such that the first force is applied to eject a first portion of the air from an intake region of the engine inlet diverting the first portion of the air from being delivered to the engine inlet;
• and
• applying a second force to the air in response to the flight condition, wherein the second force is applied using at least one second dielectric barrier discharge generator, wherein the at least one second dielectric barrier discharge generator is downstream of the at least one first dielectric barrier discharge generator and accelerates a second portion of the air toward the engine inlet when the second portion of the air is too near the engine inlet to be ejected, wherein the first force and the second force act in non-parallel directions.