The Boeing Company

Jason Alexander Gordon

Justin David Kearns

Justin C Christenson

Herbert Louis Hoffman

Alan Edgar Landmann

Hugh Poling

Adrian Viisoreanu

Juhn-Shyue Lin

Gary R Chewning

Balamurugan R Annamalai

Carl Borgstrom

Noah Fisher

Cory Fuhrmeister

Nathan Madigan

Carly Parkins

Vibration-damping blankets are attached to the back surfaces of fairing panels of a flight vehicle (e.g., an aircraft or spacecraft) to reduce vibration, fatigue, structure and airborne transmitted energy, and cabin noise. In one case, the flight vehicle fairing has an exterior comprising exterior surfaces of a multiplicity of removable panels. A method of retrofitting the flight vehicle with vibration-damping blankets comprises: removing a panel from the flight vehicle exterior; attaching a vibration-damping blanket to a back surface of the removed panel; and installing the panel with attached vibration-damping blanket on the flight vehicle with the exterior surface of the panel forming part of the flight vehicle exterior. In one embodiment, the vibration-damping blanket comprises polymeric (e.g., aromatic polyamide) fibers in a nonwoven structure.

Flight vehicle fairing having vibration-damping blankets

A wing may include a flexible leading edge skin segment having segment ends positioned adjacent to upper and lower leading edge wing skins to form a skin assembly. The upper leading edge wing skin may be positioned between the leading edge skin segment and an upper main wing skin. The lower leading edge wing skin may be positioned between the leading edge skin segment and a lower main wing skin. The wing may include a deployment device configured to flex the upper and lower leading edge wing skins thereby causing the leading edge skin segment to exhibit a rolling motion.

Morphing wing leading edge

Growing community of inventors

Long Beach, CA, United States of America

Jason Alexander Gordon