United States of America As Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

Christopher M Cagle

Roberto J Cano

Travis L Turner

Randolph H Cabell

George C Hilton

Ralph D Buehrle

Xiaofan Fei

David D North

Michael D Patterson

Richard J Silcox

David A Hare

Siena K S Whiteside

Robin W Schlecht

Robert G McSwain

Steven C Geuther

Gregory Howland

Richard J Silox

Jared S Fell

An aircraft wing configuration for a vertical or a short take-off and landing aircraft having a plurality of propeller-blown wings mounted at different longitudinal locations along a fuselage of the vertical take-off and landing aircraft, producing two or more lifting surfaces, fixed at a predetermined acute wing angle greater than 0° and substantially less than 90° relative to a horizontal plane, and having a plurality of flaps disposed behind the wings. The configuration has a plurality of propellers distributed in front of the plurality of wings producing two or more lifting surfaces and mounted such that the wings are externally blown by forced airstreams from the propellers. The propellers produce distributed thrust components, and the plurality of flaps are in the forced airstreams of the propellers when one or more of the flaps is in an extended position.

Distributed electric propulsion modular wing aircraft with blown wing and extreme flaps for VTOL and/or STOL flight

A flexible volumetric structure has a first spring that defines a three-dimensional volume and includes a serpentine structure elongatable and compressible along a length thereof. A second spring is coupled to at least one outboard edge region of the first spring. The second spring is a sheet-like structure capable of elongation along an in-plane dimension thereof. The second spring is oriented such that its in-plane dimension is aligned with the length of the first spring's serpentine structure.

Flexible volumetric structure

A jet engine exhaust nozzle flow effector is a chevron formed with a radius of curvature with surfaces of the flow effector being defined and opposing one another. At least one shape memory alloy (SMA) member is embedded in the chevron closer to one of the chevron's opposing surfaces and substantially spanning from at least a portion of the chevron's root to the chevron's tip.

Jet engine exhaust nozzle flow effector

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Yorktown, VA, United States of America

Christopher M Cagle