The Boeing Company

Robert H Liebeck

Norman Henry Princen

David Arthur Whelan

Ronald Tatsuji Kawai

Sho Sato

Edward L Lawson

Benjamin A Harber

Eric David Dickey

Kevin Robert Elmer

Derrell L Brown

Daniel Michael Tompkins

Methods and apparatus for accelerating an aircraft fuselage boundary layer via a fan powered by an APU of the aircraft are disclosed. An example aircraft includes a fuselage, an APU, and a fan. The fuselage includes an outer skin. The APU is located within the fuselage. The fan includes a plurality of fan blades arranged circumferentially about the APU and projecting radially outward from the outer skin. The fan further includes a fan drive operatively coupled to the APU. The fan drive is configured to rotate the fan blades in response to a supply of electrical energy provided to the fan drive from the APU. The rotation of the fan blades accelerates a fuselage boundary layer traveling rearward along the outer skin from a first velocity to a second velocity greater than the first velocity.

Methods and apparatus for accelerating an aircraft fuselage boundary layer via a fan powered by an auxiliary power unit of the aircraft

An aircraft having a blended-wing-body configuration includes a centerbody, a pair of wings, at least one pair of engines, a pair of air inlets, and a pair of exhaust outlets. The centerbody has an airfoil-shaped cross section, an aircraft centerline, an aft portion, an upper mold line, a lower mold line, and a pair of centerbody leading edge portions respectively on opposite sides of the aircraft centerline. The wings are integral with the centerbody. The pair of engines are located on opposite sides of the aircraft centerline and are mounted within the centerbody between the upper mold line and the lower mold line. The pair of air inlets are located respectively along the centerbody leading edge portions and are respectively fluidly coupled to the pair of engines. The pair of exhaust outlets our located in the aft portion of the centerbody and our respectively fluidly coupled to the pair of engines.

Aircraft having embedded engines

A leading edge high-lift device, that may be deployable from a wing of an aircraft, may include a leading edge and a trailing edge. A lower surface and an upper surface may both extend between the leading edge and the trailing edge. A trailing edge region may be defined by the trailing edge and an adjacent region thereto. A shaping device may be disposed at the trailing edge region and may be movable between a non-activated position and an activated position.

Leading edge high-lift device

A transformable airplane may be reconfigured easily and rapidly to perform any one or a combination of tanking, transport, bombing, or command and control missions as desired for a tactical situation by installing or replacing mission-specific modules as desired. A reconfigurable aircraft includes a pair of wings and an aircraft body having at least one bay defined in an interior of the aircraft body. The at least one bay is configured to accept a plurality of removably replaceable modules that configure the aircraft to perform a plurality of missions. Transport mission modules may include space and tie-downs for cargo pallets and/or palletized seating. A roll-on/roll-off ramp may be provided. Tanking mission modules may include a remote aerial refueling operator station. Bombing mission modules may include a bomb rack and a bomb ejector. ISR mission modules may include command and control stations in signal communication with phased array antennas.

Transformable airplane

Growing community of inventors

Irvine, CA, United States of America

Robert H Liebeck