Textron Innovations Inc.

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.

Mark E Wasikowski

Frank B Stamps

Richard Erler Rauber

Patrick R Tisdale

David Popelka

James Braswell, Jr

Thomas C Campbell

Keith Alan Stanney

David A Popelka

James L Braswell

Michael Reaugh Smith

Bryan Kenneth Baskin

Andrew Ryan Maresh

Sung Kyun Kim

Paul Branson Sherrill

Drew Alan Sutton

James M McCollough

Jillian Samantha Alfred

Thomas Parham

Matthew Wade Hendricks

John James Corrigan

Tom Donovan

Ron Measom

Christopher Mike Bothwell

Michael J Southerland

Tricia Hiros

Tim Ledbetter

Nolan B Phillips

Ryan Smith

Marko Vuga

John J Corrigan, Iii

James Lee Braswell

James M Mccollough

John J Iii Corrigan

In one embodiment, a rotor blade may comprise a blade body, a spar structure, and a blade nose. The blade body may comprise a skin, wherein the skin is configured to form an airfoil shape, and wherein the airfoil shape comprises an inboard end, an outboard end, a leading edge, and a trailing edge. The spar structure may comprise a first spar cap and a second spar cap, wherein the first spar cap is coupled to an upper portion of the skin, and wherein the second spar cap is coupled to a lower portion of the skin. The blade nose may comprise a cavity, wherein the cavity is configured to house a plurality of modular weights at a plurality of radial blade locations, wherein the plurality of radial blade locations comprises a range of locations between the inboard end and the outboard end.

Adaptable rotor blade design for performance flexibility

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method of operating a rotorcraft includes receiving a measured yaw rate from a yaw rate sensor or a measured lateral acceleration from a lateral acceleration sensor of the rotorcraft, filtering the measured yaw rate or the measured lateral acceleration using a filter to form a filtered measured yaw rate or a filtered measured lateral acceleration, and regulating a yaw rate or a lateral acceleration of the rotorcraft based on the measured yaw rate or the measured lateral acceleration. The filter includes a bandpass characteristic or a notch characteristic, and the filtering is configured to reduce lateral vibrations caused by airflow in a tail section of the rotorcraft.

System and method for rotorcraft active lateral shuffle filter

A reconfigurable rotor blade system includes an internal mass that is configured to translate in order to produce a spanwise torsional twist of the rotor blade. An actuator is configured to selectively translate the mass so as to relocate a center of mass of the rotor blade. The torsional twist is selectively produced during operation of the rotorcraft.

Reconfigurable rotor blade

A pitch control system for blades on a rotor of an aircraft has a gimballing rotor hub () and a plurality of step-over arms () connected to the hub and capable of pivoting relative to the hub about a pivot axis. Each of a plurality of pitch links () connects one of the step-over arms () to a flight control system for pivoting the connected step-over arm () about the pivot axis and relative to the hub in response to inputs from the control system. Each of a plurality of step-over links () connects one of the step-over arms () to one of the blades for rotating the associated blade about the pitch axis in response to pivoting of the associated step-over arm.

Step-over blade-pitch control system

An assembly for providing flexure to a blade of a rotary blade system includes an upper support plate having an upper curved surface, a lower support plate having a lower curved surface, and a yoke positioned therebetween. At least one of the upper and lower yoke surfaces has a layer of cushioning material positioned thereon and secured thereto. An alternate embodiment includes an assembly for providing flexure to a blade of a rotary blade system, including, an upper support plate having an upper curved surface, a lower support plate having a lower curved surface, and a yoke positioned therebetween and directly contacting the support plates wherein one of the curved surfaces is a non-circular arc that does not form part of the circumference of a circle. Another alternate embodiment includes a similar assembly having a twist-shank type of yoke for providing rotation of attached blades about their respective pitch axes.

Assembly for providing flexure to blade system

Growing community of inventors

Keller, TX, United States of America

Mark E Wasikowski