Propulsion system for a vertical and short takeoff and landing aircraft
AssigneeLockheed Corporation
InventorsPaul M. Bevilaqua, Paul K. Shumpert
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Abstract
The invention is a propulsion system for a V/STOL type aircraft. In detail, the invention comprises a turbofan engine including a fan section, compressor section, combustion section, turbine section and nozzle section. The turbine section comprises a low-pressure turbine portion coupled to and driving the fan section and a high-pressure turbine portion coupled to and driving the compressor section. A lift fan is coupled to the fan section by means of a drive shaft. A clutch is incorporated for decoupling the lift fan from the fan section. A mechanism is incorporated for extracting additional power from the low-pressure turbine portion of the turbine section to drive the lift fan that augments the basic engine thrust for V/STOL operation.
Claims11
A propulsion system for a V/STOL aircraft comprising:
- a turbofan engine including a fan section, a compressor section, a combustion section, turbine section and nozzle section, said turbine section having a low-pressure turbine portion coupled to and driving said fan section and a high-pressure turbine portion coupled to and driving said compressor section, said engine having a selectable operating point wherein a portion of the power generatable by said low-pressure turbine at a selected operating power setting is extracted to drive said fan section;
- a lift fan;
- a drive shaft means coupling said fan section to said lift fan;
- clutch means for detachable coupling said fan section to said lift fan;
- and
- means to shift said selectable operating point of said engine to a second operating point at the selected power setting increasing the power extracted by said low-pressure turbine portion of said turbine section;
- such that power extracted by said low-pressure turbine portion and applied to said fan section can be increased without changing the selected power setting.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.