GB909923A - Improvements in aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

909,923. Vertical take-off and landing aircraft. HILL, D. March 27, 1961 [March 29, 1960], No. 11075/60. Class 4. A vertical take-off and landing aircraft includes one or more power units, the thrust from which is reversible for take-off and landing, and has a wing hinged to the fuselage so that for vertical take-off and landing the wing can be moved into a vertical plane, trailing edge uppermost, the personnel carrying part of the fuselage remaining substantially horizontal. Fig. 1 shows an aeroplane in normal forward flight, a delta wing 6 and fuselage tail portion 2 being hinged on an axis 7 to a main fuselage portion 1 carrying fixed stabilizers 4. A rudder 3, ailerons 10, and elevators 5 are fitted. Wing tip gas turbine engines 8 are mounted so as to be rotatable about axes 9. Fig. 4 shows the take-off and landing configuration, in which the wings take up a vertical chord attitude under the control of hydraulic jacks normally faired within doors 12, Fig. 1. The propulsion engines 8 have been rotated through 180 degrees to provide upward thrust, and a single pilot's control may be provided for orientation of the wings and engines in a predetermined interrelated manner. Undercarriage legs 16 having castoring wheels or shock absorbers, extend from the wing leading edges, the wheels being receivable in covers 20 pivotable on axes 21. A castoring nose wheel 13 and tail wheel (not shown) extend from the fuselage portion 2. After take-off, the configuration of Fig. 1 is assumed, height being lost in the process as the aircraft temporarily assumes a diving attitude. During the vertical take-off and landing, the wing is preferably maintained edge on to the wind to minimize drift, control being obtained by rotating the engines 8 in opposite senses to set up a torque about a vertical axis which may also be used for roll control in normal forward flight. Control about the main fuselage fore-and-aft axis is obtained by varying the thrusts of the two engines differentially. Fig. 12 shows an embodiment in which contra-rotating propellers 24 surround the rail part of the fuselage, each propeller blade being telescopic so that the swept disc may be of greater diameter during vertical flight than during horizontal flight. In the transition stages, the blades are rotated through 180 degrees about their pitch change axes, and the directions of rotation are reversed, to provide thrust reversal. Each propeller may be driven from an engine through a pinion and ring gear, each pinion being disengaged from its associated ring gear and engaged with the other, when reverse rotation is required. In either embodiment, the aircraft may be tilted during take-off or landing by transfer of fuel from one wing tank to another, or by retraction or extension of only one undercarriage leg immediately after take-off, or during landing. Means is provided for locking the wing relatively to the fuselage.