STOL/VTOL free wing aircraft with articulated tail boom
AssigneeFreewing Aerial Robotics Corporation
InventorsElbert L. Rutan, Hugh J. Schmittle
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A VTOL/STOL free wing aircraft includes a free wing having wings on opposite sides of a fuselage connected to one another respectively adjacent fixed wing inboard or center root sections fixedly attached to the fuselage for free rotation about a spanwise access. Horizontal and vertical tail surfaces are located at the rear end of a boom assembly rotatably connected to the fuselage. A gearing or screw rod arrangement controlled by the pilot or remote control operator selectively relatively pivots the fuselage in relation to the tail boom assembly to enable the fuselage to assume a tilted or nose up configuration to enable VTOL/STOL flight.
Claims21
Aircraft, comprising:
- a. a fuselage including a source of propulsion for propelling the aircraft in a horizontal flight and in a short field take-off and landing (STOL) flight mode;
- b. a free wing connected to the fuselage for free pivotal movement relative thereto about a spanwise axis;
- c. a tail boom connected to the fuselage, said tail boom being formed with horizontal tail surfaces and vertical tail surfaces to provide for directional stability and yaw control;
- and
- d. a mechanism for pivoting the fuselage relative to the tail boom, independently from pivoting of said free wing about said spanwise axis, about an axis of pivot extending parallel to or coincident with the spanwise axis.
A method of propelling an aircraft in generally vertical and horizontal flight modes, comprising the steps of:
- a. propelling the aircraft in one of said flight modes with a pair of wings being freely pivotable relative to a fuselage in accordance with aerodynamic forces acting on the wings and the fuselage;
- and
- b. relatively pivoting the fuselage so that (1) a longitudinal axis thereof is in substantial alignment with tail surfaces projecting rearwardly from the fuselage in a straight and level or horizontal flight mode or (2) the fuselage and longitudinal axis thereof is oriented generally vertically and substantially perpendicular to the tail surfaces in a vertical flight mode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.