Unmanned aircraft
AssigneeVereinigte Flugtechnische Werke MBB
InventorsHeinz-Jochen Hoppner, Hugo Sgarz, Herbert Sadowski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An unmanned aircraft vehicle to be launched from a container is provided with a rocket engine for launching and a propeller drive for cruising; the wings can be folded to the body of the vehicle and will be deployed as the vehicle leaves the launching container. The propeller is freely rotatable, even if the vehicle is still in the launching container. The rocket engine is releasably connected to at least one point on the propeller drive and in symmetrical relation to maintain the propeller drive coaxial to the propeller shaft, and to react rocket thrust directly into the propeller drive.
Claims12
A unmanned aircraft vehicle for launching from a container, silo or the like and having wings being folded forward when the vehicle is in the container, but being deployed after launching, the vehicle having a propeller drive with a propeller that is freely-rotatable in the container, there being a launch assist rocket engine, the rocket engine and the propeller drive both capable of developing thrust, the improvement of releasably affixing the rocket engine to the vehicle comprising;
- mounting and holding means on the rocket engine and being of a symmetric configuration, the holding means releasably engaging the propeller drive at least in one point, and including means (a) directly bearing on the propeller shaft and including further a means (b) for journaling the rocket engine on the propeller shaft, such that at least a portion of the rocket engine thrust is reacted into the propeller drive, and the rocket engine is disposed coaxial to a shaft of the propeller until the rocket engine thrust drops below the thrust produced by the propeller drive.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.