A vertical or short takeoff and landing aircraft (VSTOL) employing three high bypass turbotip fans disposed in the fuselage and faired into the upper surfaces of the wings, and driven by two gas generators to produce vertical lift and transition to cruise flight such that the tripod arrangement for the turbotip fans generates stable powered flight. In the foregoing aircraft the gas generator - turbotip fan is an integrated propulsion system having thrust vectoring devices and gas flow control valved ducts between the two gas generators and the three turbotip fans to provide all lift, control transition and cruise functions, and in which the gas flow system produces variations in bypass ratios for the various modes of operation. Furthermore, in the foregoing aircraft the lift/cruise nacelles are positioned over the wing and blended into the upper wing surface and the adjacent fuselage to achieve high induced lift through supercirculation over the wing to produce stable flight and reduce sensitivity to gust conditions at low air speeds.

Trifan powered VSTOL aircraft

Lifting and propulsion system for aircraft with vertical take-off and landing that consists of applying to the aircraft certain propeller engines and rotating lifting systems around the transversal shafts and near the centre of gravity, presenting pairs of stabilizing propellers, turbines or fans in counter-rotation activated by electrical motors on the tips of the wings, nose and stabilizers on the tail of the aircraft, the electrical motors are powered by batteries, supercondensators, high powered electrical generators activated by the engines and by special auxiliary power units.

Lifting and Propulsion System For Aircraft With Vertical Take-Off and Landing

Control of a gas turbine engine, suitable for powering an aircraft, is accomplished by varying outlet nozzle cross section and/or a mixing of bypass air with exhaust gas at an inlet to the nozzle. The engine includes a core engine having a combustion chamber and high and low pressure turbines followed by an exhaust plenum. High and low pressure compressors driven by the turbine assembly direct air into the combustion chamber and into a bypass duct. The bypass duct extends from an outlet of the low pressure compressor. Pressure of fluid (air or exhaust) is measured at an inlet to the high pressure compressor, in the bypass duct, and in the exhaust plenum. Ratios of the pressure of the duct pressure or of the pressure at the inlet of the high-pressure compressor, to the plenum pressure are employed in a feedback loop for control of nozzle size, and also of mixing valve position in an alternate embodiment of the invention. The feedback loop includes computation of a desired pressure ratio based on desired power and inlet temperature to the low-pressure compressor.

Pressure-ratio control of gas turbine engine

The present invention relates to a convertible aircraft provided with first and second tilt fans disposed on either side of the fuselage a little forward of the center of gravity of the convertible aircraft. In addition, the convertible aircraft includes, in remarkable manner, a non-tilting fan that is permanently in a vertical position and that is contained inside the fuselage.

Convertible aircraft provided with two tilt fans on either side of the fuselage, and with a non-tilting fan inserted in the fuselage

An aircraft takes off, lands, or hovers with at least one wing-mounted thrust-producing device attached to at least one wing of the aircraft and at least two fuselage-mounted thrust-producing devices attached to a fuselage of the aircraft both providing vertical thrust. The aircraft is flown while the at least one wing-mounted thrust-producing device provides horizontal thrust and with the at least two fuselage-mounted thrust-producing devices not providing any thrust.

Vertically landing aircraft

A propulsion and control system that includes gas generator means which discharges high energy gases into ducting which is connected to at least two thrust units for converting the high energy gases into propulsive thrusts. A separate pressure controller is associated with each thrust unit for restricting the flow of high energy gases to the thrust unit and thereby increasing back pressure in the ducting upstream from the pressure controllers and at the discharge end of the gas generator means. The two pressure controllers are operable independently of each other and the operation of either one increases the back pressure. Contemporaneously, with the increase in back pressure the gas generator means automatically discharges gases at an even higher energy level and as a result the thrust unit downstream from the pressure controller which is not operated delivers greater thrust, while the thrust unit downstream from the operated pressure controller delivers about the same amount of thrust.

V Zimmermann

Papers

Propulsion system control