Modular unmanned air-vehicle

• US 20080149758A1
• Filed: 04/23/2007
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lance C. Holly, Richard D. Colgren, William R. Donovan
• Original Assignee: Lance C. Holly, Richard D. Colgren, William R. Donovan
• Inventors: Donovan, William R., Holly, Lance C., Colgren, Richard D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,922,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 244/13
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 2211/00 Modular constructions of airplanes or helicopters
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 9/02 Mounting or supporting thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/25 Fixed-wing aircraft VTOL aircraft B64U10/20
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 30/10 Wings
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 60/50 with landing legs

Abstract

An unmanned air vehicle designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, data acquisition, and general research. The vehicle is a monoplane that is comprised of several pieces that can easily be assembled using a minimal amount of tools. The aircraft consists of a forward and aft fuselage section, two identical horizontal stabilizers, and four identical wing sections. The aircraft can fly with all four wing sections, or with just two wing sections (the short wing configuration). This makes the aircraft usable for missions requiring short takeoff and landing and high endurance (long wing), or missions requiring higher speed and range (short wing). No other UAV (or other aircraft) has this unique feature. Another novel aspect of the present invention is the wing control can be specially designed to increase the effectiveness of the wing control surface while minimizing the effect the control surface has on the overall aerodynamics of the wing, namely drag.

Claims

1. An unmanned air vehicle airframe having a modular design comprising:

a modular aft fuselage section having left and right horizontal tail wings having a unitary body and movable as an entire control surface;

a modular forward fuselage section having a payload bay, landing gear, and an engine mounting assembly mounted thereto and removably attached to said aft fuselage;

a modular nose section mounted over said engine mounting assembly;

an engine mounting assembly capable of carrying a long engine mount, which can extend the engine well beyond the firewall. This can be done so that the aircraft can accommodate several different engines. Also, if a heavier engine is used, then the length of the engine mount could be modified so the center of gravity of the aircraft remains the same.

a modular wing having primary and extension modular sections.

First, the modular design makes transport much easier because it can be disassembled into its modular components for ease of stowing and transporting. Second, if the aircraft incurs any local damage to one or more of the modular components, the damaged part can simply be replaced rather than repaired.

2. An unmanned air vehicle having a modular wing design that can easily allow the user to fly the aircraft with all four wing sections (the long wing configuration) or with just two wing sections (the short wing configuration). This makes the aircraft usable for missions requiring short takeoff and landing and high endurance (long wing), or missions requiring higher speed and range (short wing). The horizontal tail can be designed as an all moving control surface so that the aircraft can easily be trimmed in both configurations—

long and short wing, minimizing the drag.

3. An unmanned air vehicle having a modular wing design such that the left and right modular wings include the left and right primary ailerons and the left and right extended ailerons. The ailerons or control surfaces for the left and right wings can be designed such that the upper skin of the wing is utilized as a hinge for the controlled surface.

This design specially increases the effectiveness of the wing control surface while minimizing the effect the control surface has on the overall aerodynamics of the wing, namely drag. The upper skin of the wing can be used as the hinge for the control surface. This allows for a seamless upper wing surface, which increases the lift to drag of the wing. Thus the wing and the control surface can be one piece, which is unique. This one piece is also interchangeable with the other three wing pieces, which is also unique.