US 5,082,198 AGranted

Recreational flying vehicle

OwnerNavnit R. Patelinventor

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A recreational vehicle combines a flying vehicle and a motorized surface vehicle, such as a boat, car, or truck or snowmobile. The flying vehicle is tethered to the surface vehicle by four rods, each of which is rotatably connected to the flying vehicle and surface vehicle, so that the angle of attack of the flying vehicle relative to the surface vehicle remains constant or decreases, depending only on altitude. On/off, throttling, and steering of the motorized surface vehicle are controlled by the pilot of the flying vehicle. The flaps of the flying vehicle are automatically lowered for landing to increase drag and lower the stall speed and raised following take-off to reduce drag. Ailerons are automatically controlled to roll the flying vehicle during turns.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A recreational vehicle comprising:

a surface vehicle having drive means for propulsion along a generally flat surface;
a flying vehicle including a wing having plural flaps;
and
linkage means for coupling the flying vehicle to the surface vehicle and for automatically and simultaneously adjustably limiting an angle of attack of the wing and an angle of flap deflection, the linkage means comprising
first and second front support arms each having bottom ends pivotally mounted on the surface vehicle for pivoting on a first horizontal axis, each front support arm having a top end pivotally mounted on the flying vehicle for pivoting on a second horizontal axis;
first and second rear support arms each having bottom ends pivotally mounted to the surface vehicle aft of the first and second front support arms for pivoting on a third horizontal axis, each rear support arm having a top end pivotally mounted on the flying vehicle for pivoting on a fourth horizontal axis;
first and second linkage arms each having a bottom linkage arm end affixed to one of the first and second rear support arms at a point below the flying vehicle, the linkage arms and the support arms intersecting at a fixed acute angle, each linkage arm further having a top linkage arm end pivotally mounted to one of the flaps;
further including fishpole suspension means for reducing the apparent wing loading on the flying vehicle at low speeds comprising a resilient glass and carbon fiber pole having a base attached to a bow of the surface vehicle and a tip attached to the flying vehicle so that when the flying vehicle is close to the surface vehicle the bending forces in the flexible pole produces a lifting force on the flying vehicle, thereby reducing the apparent wing loading.

5 more elements

A recreational vehicle comprising:

a surface vehicle having drive means for propulsion along a generally flat surface;
a flying vehicle including a wing having plural flaps;
and
linkage means for coupling the flying vehicle to the surface vehicle and for automatically and simultaneously adjustably limiting an angle of attack of the wing and an angle of flap deflection, the linkage means comprising
first and second front support arms each having bottom ends pivotally mounted on the surface vehicle for pivoting on a first horizontal axis, each front support arm having a top end pivotally mounted on the flying vehicle for pivoting on a second horizontal axis;
first and second rear support arms each having bottom ends pivotally mounted to the surface vehicle aft of the first and second front support arms for pivoting on a third horizontal axis, each rear support arm having a top end pivotally mounted on the flying vehicle for pivoting on a fourth horizontal axis;
first and second linkage arms each having a bottom linkage arm end affixed to one of the first and second rear support arms at a point below the flying vehicle, the linkage arms and the support arms intersecting at a fixed acute angle, each linkage arm further having a top linkage arm end pivotally mounted to one of the flaps;
wherein the arms and the first, second and third horizontal axes satisfy one of the following relationships:
(a)
H(R)>H(F),
D(F to R)=D(Fi to Ri), and
L(R)<L(F);
(b)
H(R)=H(F),
D(F to R)<D(Fi to Ri), and
L(R)>L(F);
(c)
H(R)>H(F);
D(F to R)<D(Fi to R), and
L(R)=L(F);
wherein H(F) and H(R) are respective distances of the first and third horizontal axes above a horizontal reference plane through the surface vehicle, D(F to R) and D(Fi to Ri) are respective distances between the first and third horizontal axes and between the second and fourth horizontal axes, and L(F) is the length of the first and second front arms and L(R) is the length of the first and second rear arms measured between axes, such that an angle, with respect to the surface vehicle, of the flying vehicle about the pitch axis only varies with an altitude of the flying vehicle with respect to the surface vehicle, and the angle decreases as the altitude increases.

18 more elements

A recreational vehicle comprising:

a surface vehicle having a bow and having drive means for propelling the surface vehicle along a generally flat surface;
a flying vehicle including a wing having plural flaps;
and
linkage means for automatically and simultaneously coupling the flying vehicle to the surface vehicle and for adjustably limiting an angle of attack of the wing and an angle of flap deflection, the linkage means comprising
a mounting platform pivotally mounted to a suspension assembly attached to the bow of the surface vehicle;
first and second front support arms each having bottom ends pivotally mounted on the platform for pivoting on a first horizontal axis, each front support arm having a top end pivotally mounted on the flying vehicle for pivoting on a second horizontal axis;
first and second rear support arms each having bottom ends pivotally mounted to the platform aft of the first and second front support arms for pivoting on a third horizontal axis, each rear support arm having a top end pivotally mounted on the flying vehicle for pivoting on a fourth horizontal axis;
first and second linkage arms each having a bottom linkage arm end affixed to one of the first and second rear support arms at a point below the flying vehicle, the linkage arms and the support arms intersecting at a fixed acute angle, each linkage arm further having a top linkage arm end pivotally mounted to one of the flaps;
an elongated lever arm attached to the platform extending aft of the platform;
and
an airfoil stabilizer attached to the lever arm aft of the platform;
and
wherein the arms and the first, second and third horizontal axes satisfy one of the following relationships:
(a)
H(R)<H(F),
D(F to R)=D(Fi to Ri), and
L(R)<L(F);
(b)
H(R)=H(F),
D(F to R)<D(Fi to Ri), and
L(R)>L(F);
(c)
H(R)>H(F),
D(F to R)<D(Fi to Ri), and
L(R)=L(F);
wherein H(F) and H(R) are respective distances of the first and third horizontal axes above a horizontal reference plane through the surface vehicle, D(F to R) and D(Fi to Ri) are respective distances between the first and third horizontal axes and between the second and fourth horizontal axes, and L(F) is the length of the first and second front arms and L(R) is the length of the first and second rear arms measured between axes, such that an angle, with respect to the surface vehicle, of the flying vehicle about the pitch axis only varies with an altitude of the flying vehicle with respect to the surface vehicle, and the angle decreases as the altitude increases.

23 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

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Abstract