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US 4,232,515 AGranted
Supersonic cruise airplane and engine
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorRobert B. Brown
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorRobert B. Brown
Estimating the term…
A supersonic airplane has a fuselage, a wing, a vertical stabilizer, a canard and a pair of turbine engines mounted in the fuselage. Each engine is of relatively simple design with a fixed inlet, a compressor and a turbine with a single drive shaft interconnecting the turbine and compressor. The engine can employ either fixed or variable exhaust nozzle geometry, depending on whether an afterburner is installed. The engine is point designed to provide maximum design thrust at a given intermediate throttle setting when the airplane is being propelled by the engine at a predetermined supersonic cruise Mach number. Maximum allowable thrust at speeds below the predetermined cruise Mach number is achieved without variable geometry air inlets by maintaining the corrected airflow through the engine at a substantially constant value equivalent to the corrected airflow at the predetermined supersonic cruise Mach number. The engine corrected airflow is maintained at a constant value by monitoring an engine operating parameter indicative of corrected airflow and adjusting the fuel flow to the engine to reduce the actual speed of the compressor and turbine.
In a turbine engine designed to provide a predetermined amount of thrust at a given throttle setting when propelling an airplane at a predetermined supersonic Mach number, the improvement comprising:
The engine of claim 15 wherein said engine operating parameter is the turbine pressure ratio.
A method for controlling a turbine engine point designed to provide a predetermined amount of thrust at a given throttle setting when propelling an aircraft at a predetermined supersonic Mach number, comprising the steps of:
A method for controlling a turbine engine point designed to provide a predetermined amount of thrust at a given throttle setting when propelling an airplane at a predetermined supersonic Mach number of about 2.0, said turbine engine including a compressor, a turbine, and a single drive shaft interconnecting said turbine and said compressor, said turbine having fixed turbine blades, comprisng the steps of:
In a method for controlling a turbine engine point designed to provide a predetermined amount of thrust at a given throttle setting when propelling an airplane at a predetermined supersonic Mach number of about 2.7, said turbine engine including a compressor, a turbine, and a single drive shaft interconnecting said turbine and said compressor, said turbine having fixed turbine blades, including the steps of:
An airplane having a wing, a vertical stabilizer, a canard, and a turbine engine mounted in the fuselage of said airplane, said engine being point designed to provide maximum thrust at a given throttle setting when said airplane is being propelled by said engine at a predetermined supersonic flight Mach number, said engine including control means for maintaining the corrected airflow through said engine at a substantially constant value at flight Mach numbers below said predetermined supersonic flight Mach number, said airplane including an inlet positioned adjacent the rearward portion of said canard for ducting air to said turbine engine, and a nozzle located in the aft portion of said fuselage for directing exhaust gases from said engine rearwardly from said engine and said fuselage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.