JPH0577789A - Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Objective] To provide a vertical take-off and landing aircraft that is capable of not only vertical take-off and landing but also take-off and landing and cruising similar to ordinary fixed-wing aircraft by means of a tiltable fan. The vertical take-off and landing aircraft is characterized in that fans are provided on both sides of the fuselage near the center of gravity of the fuselage so as to be tiltable with respect to the forward direction of the fuselage, and the fans are surrounded by ducts. In addition, a main wing is provided at the rear of the fuselage at the rear of the fan, and a front wing is provided at the front of the fuselage at the front.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention of this application relates to the invention of a manned or unmanned vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. More specifically,
The present invention relates to an invention of a vertical take-off and landing aircraft capable of not only vertical take-off and landing but also take-off and landing and cruising similar to an ordinary fixed-wing aircraft by means of a tiltable fan.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of vertical take-off and landing aircraft have been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-27319).
No. 7, etc.) are practically used, but there are tilt-rotor type and tilt-wing type.

The tilt-rotor type vertical take-off and landing aircraft
As shown in FIG. 3, when taking off, the rotor provided at the tip of the main wing is set to be vertical, and the rotor is horizontally taken off during normal operation. As shown in FIG. 4, the tilt-wing type vertical take-off and landing aircraft is provided with a fan on the main wing, which vertically takes off with the main wing vertically, and operates with the main wing horizontal during normal operation. For vertical take-off and landing aircraft, attitude control during vertical take-off and landing, that is, the moment (balance) around the center of gravity, is important. It is also proposed to equip the front and rear of the fuselage to balance it.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned tilt-rotor and tilt-wing type aircraft, the propeller diameter is large, so that the wings cannot be tilted horizontally on the ground. For this reason,
There was a safety problem in that if the tilt mechanism of the rotor failed, it would not be possible to land. Especially in the tilt wing, the tilt mechanism becomes larger,
Generally, the weight of the airframe is increased due to a complicated attitude control mechanism (fans in front and rear of the airframe) for ensuring balance during vertical takeoff. Therefore, there has been a problem that it may or may not be established during vertical takeoff, or may lead to a phenomenon of payload.

An object of the present application is to provide a vertical take-off and landing aircraft which is capable of taking off and landing normally, has high attitude control capability, is lightweight, and is efficient in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of the present application is directed to a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
Fans 1 that are tiltable with respect to the forward direction of the body are provided on both sides of a body 7 near the center of gravity of the body, and the fans 1 are surrounded by ducts 2. Further, a main wing 8 is provided at the rear of the fuselage at the rear of the fan 1, and a front wing 9 is provided at the front of the front of the fuselage 7.

[0007]

[Operation] The duct 2 surrounding the fan 1 improves the thrust of the fan 1 so that a predetermined thrust can be secured by a fan with a small diameter that can be tilted even on the ground. Further, the fan 1 provided near the center of gravity of the machine facilitates attitude control during vertical takeoff and landing.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the invention of this application will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a typical one embodiment of the aircraft of the invention of this application. 1 is a fan for propelling the aircraft. 2 is a duct that surrounds the fan 1. duct
Fan 1 surrounded by 2 (hereinafter referred to as ducted fan 3) can generally output about 1.5 to 2 times the thrust of a normal fan of the same diameter.

The fan 1 is connected to an engine 5 in the rear body part via a gear box 4. Duct 2 has a short stay to minimize the structural weight of the airframe and the weight of the tilting mechanism.
It is desirable to attach it to both sides of the fuselage 7 side with 6 pieces. The ducted fan 3 is tilted by an input of a pilot or a signal of a mission computer via a hydraulic or electric actuator. It is desirable that the fan 1 be able to tilt more than 90 ° during flight and takeoff and landing.

Reference numeral 8 is a main wing. Usually, the wing of an aircraft is
Although it is mounted close to the center of gravity, in this embodiment,
In order to mount the ducted fan 3 near the center of gravity of the airframe, it is necessary to lower the wing 8 to the rear. This wing 8
Is attached to the rear of the fan 1, an increase in dynamic pressure due to the wake of the fan is obtained, and in particular in the transition mode described below, an increase in lift expressed by the following equation is obtained. Lift L = 1/2 ・ ρ ・ V ²・ S ・ CL ρ: Air density, V: Speed, S: Representative area, CL: Lift coefficient

Reference numeral 9 is a canard. When cruising, a large head-down moment is generated due to the lift of the main wing 8 installed at the rear, so a relatively large stern
Set 9 to cancel the moment. Reference numeral 10 is a front fuel tank provided inside the fuselage at the front of the machine body. Reference numeral 11 denotes an in-main-wing fuel tank provided in the main wing at the rear of the airframe. It is desirable to use the fuels of both fuel tanks evenly to reduce the change of the center of gravity during flight and to further facilitate the attitude control.

Attitude control during vertical takeoff and landing is as follows:
Pitch & yaw is a well-known RCS (Reaction Control System) 12 based on engine bleed provided on the front or rear body.
At Rolling is performed by using the left and right thrust balances, and the direction of travel is changed by the outlet vanes 13 below the ducted fan. When cruising, the rudder 16 of the flaperon 14, the aft tail 9, and the vertical tail 15 is used as in a normal fixed-wing aircraft.

Next, the vertical take-off method of this vertical take-off aircraft will be described with reference to FIG. In normal takeoff, as shown in the figure, first the fan is made horizontal and the takeoff is performed vertically (FIG. 2 (a) vertical takeoff mode). Next, the fan is gradually inclined ((b))
Transition mode). Finally, make the fan 1 vertical and cruise ((c) Cruise mode). At this time, the balance of thrust, lift, resistance, and gravity in each mode is as schematically shown, and the balance at takeoff and landing is secured. In the event of an abnormality such as when the tilting mechanism of the fan 1 fails during flight, the fan 1 will land vertically or tilted and take off.

[0014]

Since the invention of this application is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained. First, by providing the ducted fan, the fan can be tilted on the ground, and even if the tilt mechanism fails, it is possible to land and the safety of passengers and the like can be secured. Further, since the ducted fan is provided in the vicinity of the center of gravity, attitude control during vertical takeoff and landing is facilitated, and stable vertical takeoff and landing can be achieved without providing a special attitude control mechanism. Further, by providing the ducted fan on the body, the weight of the body structure and the tilting mechanism can be minimized, and the weight of the body can be reduced.

Further, since the ducted fan is provided in the vicinity of the center of gravity, the main wing can be provided at the rear side, whereby the dynamic pressure due to the fan wake can be increased. By providing the tail fin, the effect of canceling a large head-down moment due to the lift of the main wing can be canceled and the balance at the time of cruising can be secured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an outline view of a vertical take-off and landing aircraft according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing flight modes of the vertical take-off and landing aircraft of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an outline drawing of a conventional tilt rotor type aircraft.

FIG. 4 is an outline drawing of a conventional tilt wing type aircraft.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Fan 2 Duct 7 Body 8 Main Wing 9 Sail

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vertical take-off and landing aircraft, characterized in that fans are provided on both sides of the fuselage near the center of gravity of the fuselage so as to be tiltable with respect to the forward direction of the fuselage, and the fans are surrounded by ducts. 2. The vertical take-off and landing aircraft according to claim 1, wherein a main wing is provided at a rear part of the fuselage behind the fan, and a front wing is provided at a front part of the front fuselage.