V/STOL biplane aircraft
First Claim
1. An aircraft capable of both conventional and VTOL flight, comprising:
- a fuselage;
a set of canard wings mounted at or below the fuselage at the front of the aircraft;
two sets of wings, mounted in a biplane fashion, the bottom wing mounted so that the wing center of lift is located slightly ahead of the aircraft center of gravity, the top wing is mounted so that its center of lift is located slightly behind the aircraft center of gravity;
the combined center of lift from the two wings occurring at the aircraft center of lift;
landing gear comprised of a main nosewheel and main tail wheel mounted along the longitudinal axis of the fuselage;
two outrigger landing gear mounted on extensions in front of the bottom wings;
an exbedded ducted fan mounted in a large circular opening in the center of said top wing, the exbedded ducted fan including a shroud having a ducted fan bellmouth and a rotor disposed in the shroud, exbedded meaning the duct diameter extends beyond the outer edge of the fuselage at the center of the top wing, said bottom wing having a central opening for the exhaust airstream from the ducted fan and said central opening extending rearward and being larger than the circular opening in the top wing;
a horizontal stabilizer mounted to the rear and above the top wing;
three rudders, one mounted in the central tailfin, and one in each of the two sidefins;
a central tailfin mounted above and behind the ducted fan bellmouth, supporting the horizontal stabilizer;
said central tailfin mounted on top of the rear third of the fuselage to form a “
T”
tail with the horizontal stabilizer;
airfoil-shaped, near-vertical wing support panel structures called midriggers connecting said biplane wings to each other, the midriggers positioned longitudinally tangent to the outer radius of the large circular opening in the center of said top wing; and
two near vertical, airfoil-shaped planar support structures called sidefins connecting said biplane wings together at the wingtips, said two sidefins extending to further connect to the wingtips of the horizontal stabilizer, wherein said central tailfin and two sidefins have a total surface area from 25% to 60% of the biplane wing surface area;
the total surface area of the three rudders ranging between 25% and 60% of said total surface area of the central tailfin and two sidefins; and
said horizontal stabilizer having a surface area in a range of from 25-60% of the biplane wing surface area.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a 2 passenger aircraft capable of vertical and conventional takeoffs and landings, called a jyrodyne. The jyrodyne comprises a central fuselage with biplane-type wings arranged in a negative stagger arrangement, a horizontal ducted fan inlet shroud located at the center of gravity in the top biplane wing, a rotor mounted in the shroud, outrigger wing support landing gear, a forward mounted canard wing and passenger compartment, a multiple vane-type air deflector system for control and stability in VTOL mode, a separate tractor propulsion system for forward flight, and a full-span T-tail. Wingtip extensions on the two main wings extend aft to attach to the T-tail. The powerplants consist of two four cylinder two-stroke reciprocating internal combustion engines. Power from the engines is distributed between the ducted fan and tractor propeller through the use of a drivetrain incorporating two pneumatic clutches, controlled by an automotive style footpedal to the left of the rudder pedals. When depressed, power is transmitted to the ducted fan for vertical lift. When released, power is transmitted to the tractor propeller for forward flight. The aircraft can also takeoff and land in the conventional manner with a much larger payload, and is easily converted to amphibious usage. Landing gear is a bicycle arrangement with outriggers. The aircraft combines twin engines, heavy-duty landing gear, controlled-collapse crashworthy seats with a low stall speed and high resistance to stalls to eliminate any region of the flight regime where an engine or drivetrain failure could cause an uncontrollable crash.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An aircraft capable of both conventional and VTOL flight, comprising:
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a fuselage;
a set of canard wings mounted at or below the fuselage at the front of the aircraft;
two sets of wings, mounted in a biplane fashion, the bottom wing mounted so that the wing center of lift is located slightly ahead of the aircraft center of gravity, the top wing is mounted so that its center of lift is located slightly behind the aircraft center of gravity;
the combined center of lift from the two wings occurring at the aircraft center of lift;
landing gear comprised of a main nosewheel and main tail wheel mounted along the longitudinal axis of the fuselage;
two outrigger landing gear mounted on extensions in front of the bottom wings;
an exbedded ducted fan mounted in a large circular opening in the center of said top wing, the exbedded ducted fan including a shroud having a ducted fan bellmouth and a rotor disposed in the shroud, exbedded meaning the duct diameter extends beyond the outer edge of the fuselage at the center of the top wing, said bottom wing having a central opening for the exhaust airstream from the ducted fan and said central opening extending rearward and being larger than the circular opening in the top wing;
a horizontal stabilizer mounted to the rear and above the top wing;
three rudders, one mounted in the central tailfin, and one in each of the two sidefins;
a central tailfin mounted above and behind the ducted fan bellmouth, supporting the horizontal stabilizer;
said central tailfin mounted on top of the rear third of the fuselage to form a “
T”
tail with the horizontal stabilizer;
airfoil-shaped, near-vertical wing support panel structures called midriggers connecting said biplane wings to each other, the midriggers positioned longitudinally tangent to the outer radius of the large circular opening in the center of said top wing; and
two near vertical, airfoil-shaped planar support structures called sidefins connecting said biplane wings together at the wingtips, said two sidefins extending to further connect to the wingtips of the horizontal stabilizer, whereinsaid central tailfin and two sidefins have a total surface area from 25% to 60% of the biplane wing surface area;
the total surface area of the three rudders ranging between 25% and 60% of said total surface area of the central tailfin and two sidefins; and
said horizontal stabilizer having a surface area in a range of from 25-60% of the biplane wing surface area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification