Grumman Aerospace Corporation

Other

Kress Jets, Inc.

Hudson Valley V/stol Aircraft, Inc.

Robert W Kress

Joseph W Stump

Anthony C Bacchi

Marshall J Corbett

David F Gebhard

Martin C Stettler

Richard G Koenig

Michael Pelehach

Bernard Kovit

Robert C Powers

Rolf J Larson

A tilt wing VTOL aircraft has a fuselage with sides and an upper surface, an upper wing having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a chord, a lower surface and an upper surface. The wing is pivotally mounted on the fuselage for rotation from a cruise flight position in which the upper surface of the wing is flush with the upper surface of the fuselage to a hover position in which the wing is perpendicular to the upper surface of the fuselage. Aircraft engines are mounted on the wing. The aircraft has a pair of flaps at the trailing edge of the wing, each located between the fuselage and an engine and each spaced the same distance from the fuselage and each of the engines. The flaps are mounted for selective movement from colinearity with the chord of the wing to a first angle of about +30.degree. with the chord and about 30.degree. with the upper surface of the wing and to a second angle of about -30.degree. with the chord and about 30.degree. with the lower surface of the wing. When the flaps are between a small angle with the chord and the first angle with the chord, the aircraft moves in a forward horizontal direction while in hover and when the flaps are between a small angle with the chord and at the second angle with the chord, the aircraft moves in a reverse horizontal direction while in hover. The horizontal motion forces are produced by the propeller slipstream acting on the wing flaps and because the flap aerodynmnic center of gravity is at essentially the same height as the aircraft center of gravity.

Tilt wing VTOL aircraft

An unmanned aerial vehicle incorporates a single engine with bifurcated exhausts which are coupled to side mounted rotating nozzles through a swivel joint. Jet deflection means are mounted to the end of the rotating nozzles to achieve additional degrees of freedom for the aircraft.

Unmanned aerial aircraft having a single engine with dual jet exhausts

A control member is rotatably mounted on the fuselage or on the wing of a model aircraft in spaced relation with a supporting surface of the fuselage. A gear leg is supported at one end by the control member and supports a landing wheel at its spaced opposite end. The gear leg extends radially of the control member. A torsion spring is coaxially mounted with the control member for storing energy when the control member is in a position whereby the gear leg is fully extended for ground operations and for releasing stored energy to rotate the control member in a manner whereby the gear leg is retracted for flying operations. A gear retracting initiator coupled to the torsion spring initiates gear retraction. An extend lock locks the gear leg in its fully extended position. A retract lock locks the gear leg in its retracted position. An actuator in operative proximity with the extend lock and the retract lock assists in locking the gear leg in its fully extended position and assists in locking the gear leg in its retracted position.

Model aircraft retractable landing gear device

A tilt wing VTOL aircraft has an upper wing with a leading edge, a trailing edge, an inboard area adjacent the fuselage, spaced opposite end tip areas and an upper surface. The wing is pivotally mounted on the fuselage for rotation from a cruise position in which the upper surface of the wing is flush with the upper surface of the fuselage to a hover position in which the wing is perpendicular to the upper surface of the fuselage. The wing has a forward portion in the leading edge of the inboard area affixed to the fuselage and cut out of the wing and an aft portion in the trailing edge of the inboard area affixed to the fuselage and cut out of the wing. Thus, when the wing is in its cruise position it is whole, including the forward and aft portions, whereas when the wing is in its hover position it has a forward cutout at its leading edge in the inboard area corresponding to the forward portion and an aft cutout at its trailing edge in the inboard area corresponding to the aft portion so that the spanwise wing lift distribution is diminished when the wing is in a position other than its cruise position. The forward and aft cutouts produce a vortex along the sides of the fuselage which results in the spanwise wing lift distribution being diminished when the wing is in a position other than its cruise position. This vortex increases the wing tolerance to angle of attack and thus reduces the requirement for propeller bending of the air flow during mid-transition speeds. It also reduces the intensity of center section buffet.

A VTOL aircraft has a first engine nacelle mounted under the wing on one side of the fuselage and houses two of the aircraft engines. The first engine nacelle is mounted in close proximity with the fuselage. A second engine nacelle is mounted under the wing on the opposite side of the fuselage from the first nacelle and houses the remaining two engines. The second engine nacelle is mounted in close proximity with the fuselage. The first and second nacelles are movable from positions parallel to the wing for normal flight to positions perpendicular to the wing for vertical flight. Each of the first and second engine nacelles has inlets and nozzles and each of the first and second nacelles is angled in a manner whereby its nozzles are closer to the fuselage than its inlets. First control vanes extend aft of the nozzles of, and are movable with, the first engine nacelle and second control vanes extend aft of the nozzles of, and are movable with, the second engine nacelle. Each of the first and second vanes include vertical vanes normally aligned with the thrust vector centerlines.

Four engine VTOL aircraft

A metal container stores a VTOL aircraft during shipment to a sea vessel or large vehicle where it then functions as a portable weather-tight hangar which can be secured in available deck space. When on board a ship's deck, the walls of the container unfold so that the structure may be converted to a take-off and landing pad that provides an exhaust system for the hot lift engine gases that eliminates the hazard to ship's crew, prevents heat damage to the deck and eliminates 'suck down' effects characteristic of certain VTOL aircraft configurations. Triangular panels are removably secured together to form the cover of the container; and when unfolded and flattened, these panels are inserted in the corners of the unfolded structure so as to extend the heat shield.

VTOL aircraft convertible shipping container and method of use

A data processing system for a phased array antenna consisting of an array of transmit/receive elements which result in a significant reduction in the data processing requirements for the received signals. In operation, the RF transmitted and received beams are formed and steered in a conventional manner with a phase shifter and amplitude weighting for each element. However, a simplifying approximation is made in the signal processing of the received signals for interference suppression, which results in minimal degradation of the system performance. In such a system, interference suppression is obtained by generating nulls in the receive antenna pattern in the direction of the interference. The nulls are produced by adjusting the phase and amplitude (weight) of the received signal from each array element just enough to null the interference with minimal impact on the rest of the antenna pattern. Pursuant to the present invention, the signal processing requirements are significantly reduced by summing the outputs of adjacent array elements to produce a lesser number of summed signals, less than the number of elements in the array. Each summed signal is then directed to a weighted amplifier controlled to weigh the contribution of the particular summed signal to a composite output signal formed by a composite summing circuit, which sums the weighted output signals of all of the weighted amplifiers.

Data processing system for a phased array antenna

By mounting a lift engine and a lift/cruise engine closely to the center of gravity of an aircraft and by orienting the respective engines such that the thrust axes thereof are arranged for ensuring that the vector sum of the lift engine thrust and the lift/cruise engine thrust pass through the center of gravity at all times, a fuel efficient aircraft can controllably takeoff and land vertically. To provide for vectoring the thrust of the respective engines, different nozzles are provided. Further, to provide for pitch, roll and yaw control, a vane assembly is coupled to the aircraft in such a way that it remains in alignment to the jet stream of the lift engine.

VTOL aircraft having combination lift and lift/cruise engines

A device adaptable to inexpensive models to operate either in a mode of being attacked or an attack mode that permits sequential shooting of energy within a predetermined angle profile and, within range limits, the receipt of such energy whereupon visual indication of a successful attack can be indicated.

Combat simulator means

A fuel tank for model aircraft having a central aperture on one end face for receiving a fuel line and a pair of nipples, one above and one below said central aperture near the top and bottom of the tank to which vent lines leading to the atmosphere through lower and upper surfaces of the aircraft are connected.

Fuel tank for model aircraft

A downwind rotor wind turbine having a rotor with a horizontal axis carried for operation on the downwind end of a pod or nacelle pivotally mounted on a vertical pivot located upwind of the rotor on the top of an elevated structure. Each blade is provided at its tip with a tip plate. The tip plates have a surface area large enough to provide an aerodynamic force on the rotor when the wind shifts away from the rotational axis of the rotor such that a restoring moment is furnished about the turbine pivot to turn the turbine automatically back into the wind.

Directionally stabilized wind turbine

A VTOL airplane having a stub wing integrating a powerplant to either side of an airplane fuselage to rotatably relate the powerplant means to the airplane fuselage for uniform rotation, allow for flexible interconnecting design and lower the use of gravitational and aerodynamic moments in assistance of rotation of this powerplant/stub wing assembly.

VTOL Airplane

A ducted fan engine for model aircraft which is powered by a conventional model piston engine. The engine is mounted in a hollow portion of an inner core body and drives a multibladed fan. Two sets of stationary vanes are attached to the core body and a cylindrical shroud, fitted over the assembly, is attached to the outer ends of the vanes.

Ducted fan for model aircraft

A multi-propeller propulsion system for model aircraft having a single engine and positive driving connections between the engine and each of the multiplicity of propellers. The positive drive may include toothed pulleys and serrated belts and gearing for example.

Model aircraft propulsion system

An airplane having a fuselage, a high wing projecting from the upper part of the fuselage to either side first at an upward angle and then slightly downwardly whereby said wing presents a gull wing frontal contour, fins to either side and forward of and at the bottom of the fuselage with ducted fans nested to the wing under the high point of the gull wing frontal contour to be unobstructed thereby.

Growing community of inventors

Lloyd Harbor, NY, United States of America

Robert W Kress