Advanced Aerospace Technologies, Inc.

Advanced Product Development, LLC

Other

Mcdonnell Douglas Helicopter Company

Mcdonnell Helicopter Company LLC

William Randall McDonnell

Charles H Baker

John W Rutherford

Brian T Smith

Matthew O'Rourke

An asymmetric aircraft () and an aircraft () that can operate from small ships () and be stored in high density with three aircraft or more in one helicopter hangar () without needing a landing gear or wing fold. These aircraft slide into and out of the hangar on dollies () like circuit boards in a computer and are launched and recovered using a large towed parafoil ().

Asymmetric aircraft and their launch and recovery systems from small ships

A generally vertical rocket () flies generally horizontally into recovery line, cable or chain () suspended between towers () of a catamaran landing ship (). High speed winches (), preferably located near or at the tops of the towers () can rapidly reel in or out the recovery line () to effectively raise or lower the recovery line (). The fixture engages a capture device on the rocket located usually above the rocket center of gravity. This invention provides a more reliable means of landing a rocket and also eliminates rocket weight, cost and complexity associated with previous means of landing a rocket.

Rocket landing system

An oblique wing aircraft designed for reduced surface area to volume ratio. The aircraft has an oblique wing comprising a forward swept wing segment and an aft swept wing segment. A center oblique airfoil section connects the forward and aft swept wing segments. The center oblique airfoil section has a larger chord near its centerline than the chords of either of the forward or aft swept wing segments. The chord of the center oblique airfoil section tapers down more rapidly than the forward or aft wing segments as the center oblique airfoil section extends outboard toward the forward and aft swept wings. Preferably, the aircraft is an all-wing aircraft.

Oblique blended wing body aircraft

A method of launching and retrieving a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) (). The preferred method of launch involves carrying the UAV () up to altitude using a parasail () similar to that used to carry tourists aloft. The UAV is dropped and picks up enough airspeed in the dive to perform a pull-up into level controlled flight. The preferred method of recovery is for the UAV to fly into and latch onto the parasail tow line () or cables hanging off the tow line and then be winched back down to the boat ().

Launch and recovery system for unmanned aerial vehicles

An oblique wing aircraft () designed for reduced surface area to volume ratio. The aircraft has an oblique wing comprising a forward swept wing segment () on one side of the wing and an aft swept wing segment () on the opposite side of the wing. A center oblique airfoil section () connects the forward and aft swept wing segments. The center oblique airfoil section has a larger chord near its centerline than the chords of either of the forward or aft swept wing segments. The chord of the center oblique airfoil section tapers down more rapidly than the forward or aft wing segments as the center oblique airfoil section extends outboard toward the forward and aft swept wings. The center oblique airfoil section is not shaped solely to function as a circular fairing to fill the gap between an oblique wing and a fuselage at different oblique wing angles, nor is it a second wing in an X wing configuration. Preferably, the aircraft is an all-wing aircraft.

The current invention relates primarily to the control of rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft where a small electric actuator () changes the pitch on a small aerodynamic surface () and the resulting airloads on said small aerodynamic surface are used to change the pitch on a significantly larger aerodynamic surface (). In the preferred embodiment the resulting airloads on said larger aerodynamic surface is then used to change the pitch on a still larger aerodynamic surface (). As a result small electric actuators are capable of moving and controlling large aircraft control surfaces with an effective two step amplification of power utilizing the energy in the airstream. The current invention also discloses means to control and prevent undesirable motion of said aerodynamic surfaces.

Use of aerodynamic forces to assist in the control and positioning of aircraft control surfaces and variable geometry systems

Passenger accommodations are easily and rapidly convertible from conventional seats to bunk beds and back. A support structure () supports a seat pad () and a seat pad extension () and also rotatably supports a seat back (). The seat pad extension () and seat back () are partially supported by the support structure () of a row of seats ahead of the convertible seats when the convertible seats are converted to bunk beds. A third bunk bed () may be unfolded under the lower bunk bed formed by the seat pad ().

Growing community of inventors

St. Louis, MO, United States of America

William Randall McDonnell