Textron Innovations Inc.

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.

Thomas Dewey Parsons

Carlos Alexander Fenny

Erik John Oltheten

Charles Eric Covington

David Haynes

Andrew Jordan Birkenheuer

Chris James Ludtke

Troy Cyril Schank

Keith David Weaver

Cody Fegely

Paul Madej

Chia-Wei Su

Darren Gregory Lang

Joshua Andrew Emrich

Andrew Thomas Carter

Robert Paul Reynolds

Alan Hisashi Steinert

William Gons

James E Sobel

Kent E Donaldson

David L Miller

Eric Christopher Terry

Shahryar Fotovati

Bradley Robert Henson

Angel David Rosado

David Henderson Loe

Cody Earl Fegely

A method for operating an aircraft includes determining a shaft horse power requirement of a multi-engine power plant, comparing the shaft horse power requirement to a threshold value, and activating an economy mode of operation or inhibiting the economy mode of operation based upon the results of the comparison step. The threshold value may be determined from a power rating for an engine of the multi-engine power plant, and may be adjusted and/or delayed, depending upon whether the current state is economy mode active or economy inhibited. The shaft hose power requirement can be calculated from a control input, such as collective position, from a collection of flight parameters, including airspeed, aircraft gross weight, altitude, and the like, or from a measurement of actual shaft horse power production by the engines.

Engine control method for economy mode operation

Embodiments are directed to a rotorcraft comprising an airframe having an engine compartment, an engine disposed within the engine compartment, at least one fire bottle configured to hold a fire extinguishing agent, at least one agent tube coupled to the fire bottle and configured to carry the fire extinguishing agent to the engine compartment, and a nozzle on the at least one agent tube, the nozzle positioned below the engine and oriented in a upward-facing direction. The nozzle has at least one opening that is closed by a spring-loaded valve.

Fire extinguishing discharge nozzle for helicopter engine compartment

A rotorcraft has a drive system including a main rotor coupled to a main rotor gearbox to rotate the main rotor at a rotor speed, a main engine coupled to the drive system to provide a first power, a supplemental engine coupled, when a first clutch is engaged, to the drive system to provide a second power additive to the first power, and a control system operable to control the main engine and the supplemental engine to provide a total power demand, where the main engine is controlled based on variations in rotor speed and a power compensation command to produce the first power, and the supplemental engine is controlled to produce the second power in response to a supplemental power demand.

Supplemental engine power control

Various implementations described herein are related to an aircraft having a multi-engine configuration with multiple engines. The aircraft may have a flight control system coupled to the multiple engines with a multi-engine interface. The flight control system may be configured to reduce fuel consumption of at least one engine of the multiple engines during reduced-engine operation by pulse modulating fuel delivery to the at least one engine of the multiple engines.

Pulse modulation technique for gas turbine engines

In an embodiment, an aircraft includes a drive system, a main engine coupled to the drive system to provide first power, and a supplemental engine coupled to the drive system to provide second power additive to the first power. The aircraft also includes a control system to control the main engine and the supplemental engine to optimize usage of the supplemental engine. The control system is operable to maintain the supplemental engine in a reduced power state at least until a determination is made that supplemental power is needed to satisfy a total power demand of the drive system. The control system is also operable to determine that supplemental power is needed to satisfy the total power demand of the drive system. The control system is further operable to increase a power level of the supplemental engine in response to the determination that supplemental power is needed.

Optimizing usage of supplemental engine power

Various implementations described herein are directed to an aircraft having a multi-engine configuration with multiple engines. The aircraft may have a flight control system coupled to the multiple engines with a multi-engine interface. The flight control system may be configured to shutdown at least one engine of the multiple engines during reduced-engine operation by continuously calculating altitude for the reduced-engine operation based on one or more of an aircraft descent rate of the aircraft and an engine restart time of the at least one engine.

Reduced-engine operation technique for rotorcraft

Systems and methods include providing an aircraft with a fuselage and a convertible engine disposed within the fuselage. The convertible engine is operable as a turbofan engine in a thrust mode and a turboshaft engine in a shaft power mode. The convertible engine includes a housing, an engine core having a low pressure turbine shaft, and a bypass fan system. The bypass fan system includes a bypass fan having a fan clutch. The fan clutch selectively couples at least a portion of the bypass fan to the low pressure turbine shaft when the convertible engine is operated in the thrust mode and decouples at least a portion of the bypass fan from the low pressure turbine shaft when the convertible engine is operated in the shaft power mode.

Fan clutch for convertible engine

Embodiments are directed to systems and methods for controlling an aircraft engine inlet comprises determining a required engine RPM for an engine in-flight restart based upon current aircraft parameters, detecting a command to initiate the engine in-flight restart, and managing a position of an engine inlet barrier to control a volume of air entering an engine intake, wherein the ram air causes an engine turbine to achieve the required engine RPM. The required engine RPM may be an N1 gas generator RPM. The engine inlet barrier may be a hinged door positioned within the engine inlet or a series of inlet variable guide vanes that are configured to rotate between a closed position and an opened position. The position of the engine inlet barrier may be controlled by a flight control computer or an engine control computer.

Inlet configuration enabling rapid in-flight engine restart

Embodiments are directed to a rotorcraft comprising an airframe having an engine compartment, an engine disposed within the engine compartment, at least one fire bottle configured to hold a fire extinguishing agent, at least one agent tube coupled to the fire bottle and configured to carry the fire extinguishing agent to the engine compartment, and a nozzle on the at least one agent tube, the nozzle positioned above the engine and oriented in a downward-facing direction. The nozzle has at least one opening and is configured to allow liquid to drain out of the at least one opening instead of allowing the liquid to flow into the at least one agent tube. The nozzle may have a chamfer opening that faces downward.

A differential pressure transducer provides measurements for determining the restriction, updated in real time, of an inlet barrier filter for a turboshaft engine of an aircraft. The percentage of restriction of the air inlet barrier filter, which corresponds to the condition of the air inlet barrier filter, is determined as a function of mass air flow into the engine during operation. The restriction percentage is indicated on the instrument panel of the rotorcraft.

Real time engine inlet barrier filter condition monitor

The present invention achieves technical advantages as a rotorcraft engine inlet configuration to optimize performance in both hover and high-speed flight. A rotorcraft fuselage with a ram air intake and a side air intake allows airflow into the engine inlet plenum. A door can be operably coupled to the fuselage, wherein the door is in an open position when the airspeed is below a first threshold and is in a closed position when the airspeed exceeds a second threshold. Additionally, control logic, compares the rotorcraft airspeed with a stored airspeed to operate an actuator to open and close the door to modulate the airflow into the engine inlet plenum. The present invention realizes the advantages of eliminating the inlet spillage drag due to inlet ram airflow in forward flight and increasing the available engine power by mitigating the loss of inlet air pressure recovery.

Rotorcraft engine inlet configuration to optimize performance in both hover and high speed flight

The present invention includes an a plurality of first variable speed motors mounted on a tail boom of the helicopter; one or more fixed pitch blades attached to each of the plurality of first variable speed motors; and wherein a speed of one or more of the plurality of first variable speed motors is varied to provide an anti-torque thrust.

Anti-torque control using fixed blade pitch motors

A drive system for a tiltrotor aircraft operable to transition between rotary and non rotary flight modes. The drive system includes an engine to provide rotational energy and a proprotor assembly to receive rotational energy from the engine when the tiltrotor aircraft is in the rotary flight mode. The proprotor assembly is disengaged from the engine in the non rotary flight mode. The drive system includes a proprotor gearbox including one or more gears mechanically interposed between the engine and the proprotor assembly. The proprotor gearbox transfers rotational energy from the engine to the proprotor assembly when the tiltrotor aircraft is in the rotary flight mode. The drive system includes a lubricant operable to reduce friction between the gears and a lubrication management system to affect a temperature of the lubricant to enhance lubrication between the gears in the proprotor gearbox in the rotary flight mode.

Lubrication management systems for tiltrotor aircraft

An aircraft includes a fuselage and an engine housed in the fuselage. A ram-air engine inlet is formed on an exterior of the fuselage. The ram-air engine inlet is defined, at least in part, by a cowling door. The cowling door is moveable between a closed position and an open position. An intake duct fluidly couples the ram-air engine inlet to the engine. A filter is disposed across the intake duct. A bypass duct is formed in the ram-air engine inlet aft of the intake duct. The bypass duct is operable to be selectively opened and closed.

Growing community of inventors

Fort Worth, TX, United States of America

Thomas Dewey Parsons