Aircraft air inlet with airflow guide to prevent flow separation

In an aircraft including a fuselage, an air suction source that sucks outside air from an atmosphere outside of said aircraft when said aircraft is operating on the ground, and an air inlet having an inlet opening that is flush with or recessed into an outer surface of said fuselage, an air channel that extends and communicates from said inlet opening to said air suction source, and an inlet lip that extends from said fuselage to a free protruding nose of said inlet lip, wherein said nose bounds one side of said inlet opening,

• an improvement in said air inlet comprising an air guide element that has an aerodynamic contour and that is arranged adjacent to said nose of said inlet lip so as to influence a flow pattern of said outside air that is sucked into said air inlet when said aircraft is operating on the ground,
• wherein said nose of said inlet lip has a convexly curved forward-facing surface, said air guide element has a concavely curved rearward-facing surface that is spaced apart from and faces said convexly curved forward-facing surface of said nose of said inlet lip, and an air gap having an arcuate cross-sectional shape is formed and bounded between said convexly curved forward-facing surface and said concavely curved rearward-facing surface.

In an aircraft including a fuselage, an air suction source that sucks outside air from an atmosphere outside of said aircraft when said aircraft is operating on the ground, and an air inlet having an inlet opening that is flush with or recessed into an outer surface of said fuselage, an air channel that extends and communicates from said inlet opening to said air suction source, and an inlet lip that extends from said fuselage to a free protruding nose of said inlet lip, wherein said nose bounds one side of said inlet opening,

• an improvement in said air inlet comprising an air guide element that has an aerodynamic contour and that is arranged adjacent to said nose of said inlet lip so as to influence a flow pattern of said outside air that is sucked into said air inlet when said aircraft is operating on the ground,
• wherein said air guide element has a convexly aerodynamically curved front surface that faces away from said nose of said air inlet lip.

In an aircraft including a fuselage, an air suction source that sucks outside air from an atmosphere outside of said aircraft when said aircraft is operating on the ground, and an air inlet having an inlet opening that is flush with or recessed into an outer surface of said fuselage, an air channel that extends and communicates from said inlet opening to said air suction source, and an inlet lip that extends from said fuselage to a free protruding nose of said inlet lip, wherein said nose bounds one side of said inlet opening,

• an improvement in said air inlet comprising an air guide element that has an aerodynamic contour and that is arranged adjacent to said nose of said inlet lip so as to influence a flow pattern of said outside air that is sucked into said air inlet when said aircraft is operating on the ground,
• wherein said air guide element is rigidly fixed relative to said nose of said air inlet lip, and a fixed constant air gap is always formed between said air guide element and said nose of said inlet lip.

In an aircraft including a fuselage, an air suction source that sucks outside air from an atmosphere outside of said aircraft when said aircraft is operating on the ground, and an air inlet having an inlet opening that is flush with or recessed into an outer surface of said fuselage, an air channel that extends and communicates from said inlet opening to said air suction source, and an inlet lip that extends from said fuselage to a free protruding nose of said inlet lip, wherein said nose bounds one side of said inlet opening,

• an improvement in said air inlet comprising an air guide element that has an aerodynamic contour and that is arranged adjacent to said nose of said inlet lip so as to influence a flow pattern of said outside air that is sucked into said air inlet when said aircraft is operating on the ground,
• wherein an outer surface of said inlet lip is a flush extension of said outer surface of said fuselage, an inner surface of said inlet lip extends along and bounds said air channel, said one side of said inlet opening bounded by said nose is a rear side of said opening relative to a forward direction of flight of said aircraft, and said air guide element has a bottom surface that is flush with and does not protrude outwardly beyond said outer surface of said inlet lip.