Aircraft
First Claim
1. An aircraft having a wingspan dimension that is perpendicular to a direction of travel of the aircraft, a length dimension that is parallel to the direction of travel, and a front direction defined by the direction of travel said aircraft comprising:
- a wing extending generally perpendicular to the direction of travel and defining the wingspan; and
a landing gear having wheels positioned at different locations along the length dimension of the aircraft, the landing gear having a main gear and a front-most gear, wherein all of the wheels are mounted by the wing;
wherein the wing'"'"'s angle of attack is configured such that the main gear lifts off prior to the front-most gear during take-off.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
This disclosure provides a solar rechargeable aircraft that is inexpensive to produce, is steerable, and can remain airborne almost indefinitely. The preferred aircraft is a span-loaded flying wing, having no fuselage or rudder. Travelling at relatively slow speeds, and having a two-hundred foot wingspan that mounts photovoltaic cells on most all of the wing'"'"'s top surface, the aircraft uses only differential thrust of its eight propellers to turn. Each of five sections of the wing has one or more engines and photovoltaic arrays, and produces its own lift independent of the other sections, to avoid loading them. Five two-sided photovoltaic arrays, in all, are mounted on the wing, and receive photovoltaic energy both incident on top of the wing, and which is incident also from below, through a bottom, transparent surface. The aircraft is capable of a top speed of about ninety miles per hour, which enables the aircraft to attain and can continuously maintain altitudes of up to sixty-five thousand feet. Regenerative fuel cells in the wing store excess electricity for use at night, such that the aircraft can sustain its elevation indefinitely. A main spar of the wing doubles as a pressure vessel that houses hydrogen and oxygen gasses for use in the regenerative fuel cell. The aircraft has a wide variety of applications, which include weather monitoring and atmospheric testing, communications, surveillance, and other applications as well.
271 Citations
63 Claims
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1. An aircraft having a wingspan dimension that is perpendicular to a direction of travel of the aircraft, a length dimension that is parallel to the direction of travel, and a front direction defined by the direction of travel said aircraft comprising:
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a wing extending generally perpendicular to the direction of travel and defining the wingspan; and a landing gear having wheels positioned at different locations along the length dimension of the aircraft, the landing gear having a main gear and a front-most gear, wherein all of the wheels are mounted by the wing; wherein the wing'"'"'s angle of attack is configured such that the main gear lifts off prior to the front-most gear during take-off. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. An aircraft wing, comprising:
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a substantially horizontal wing member that defines an aircraft wingspan, the wing member having an upward surface and a downward surface that combine to create lift, and a photovoltaic array mounted on the upward surface of the wing member, the photovoltaic array spanning a substantial portion of the wingspan; and a structural member extending along the wingspan and positioned relatively closer to the photovoltaic array and the upward surface than to the downward surface, thereby minimizing compression and tension of the photovoltaic array; wherein the structural member has a hollow region within itself; wherein the aircraft includes at least one engine that propels the aircraft by causing the wing to generate lift; wherein the wing further includes at least one regenerative fuel cell borne by the aircraft, the at least one regenerative fuel cell storing and generating electricity for use by the aircraft; wherein the at least one regenerative fuel cell operates by dissociating a chemical substance into components of the substance and recombining the components to reform the chemical substance; wherein the hollow region of the structural member of the wing forms a tank that stores at least one of the chemical substance and one of the components; wherein the upward surface and the downward surface each include a material that is transparent to light; and wherein the photovoltaic array includes a two-sided photovoltaic array mounted proximate to the material that is transparent to light of both the upward and downward surfaces, the material permitting light incident upon the upward surface and the downward surface to both be incident upon, and converted to electricity by, the two-sided photovoltaic array. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. An aircraft having a length dimension parallel to a direction of travel and a wingspan dimension substantially perpendicular to a forward direction of travel, the aircraft being substantially free of a fuselage along the length dimension, comprising:
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a substantially un-swept wing that extends along the wingspan dimension; a plurality of aircraft engines that overhang the wing, in front of it along the forward direction of travel; and a plurality of fins that extend vertically downward from the wing at locations distributed along the wingspan, the fins each having a vertical length that is at least fifty percent of a length of the aircraft, wherein the aircraft further comprises a landing gear that includes two wheels mounted at the base of each fin, away from the wing along the vertical direction, the landing gear having a main gear and a front-most gear; and wherein the wheels at each fin are separated along the direction of travel and are oriented with respect to one another and the wing'"'"'s angle of attack such that the main gear lifts off prior to the front-most gear during take-off. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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Specification