RU2162809C2 - Vertical take-off and landing aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: aviation. SUBSTANCE: aircraft has fuselage with pod 1, landing gear, wing with two panels 10, 11 and center-wing section 9. Pod 1 is secured in front portion of center-wing section. Tail unit consists of two fins 12, 13 and stabilizers 14, 15. Power plant includes at least one lift-thrust engine mounting in swivelling pod. Provision is also made for control system which includes wing ailerons 18, 19, elevators 22, 23 and rudders 24, 25; provision is also made for vertical flight and hovering control system. Aircraft is provided two tail booms 2, 3 secured on upper surface of center-wing section 9. Swivelling pod 17 is mounted in bearing by means of trunnions 27, 28; bearings are secured on tail booms 2, 3 in cut- out of center-wing section 9 above aircraft CG for swinging in plane of symmetry. Lift-thrust engine 16 is just gas-turbine engine; fins 12, 13 are secured on tail booms 2, 3. EFFECT: enhanced safety of flights; enhanced economical efficiency. 7 cl, 10 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to the field of aircraft construction, and more particularly to the construction of aircraft heavier than air with gas turbine engines (GTE), designed for vertical take-off and landing.

 There are various designs of aircraft vertical takeoff and landing.

 For example, the MIRAGE-BALZAK vertical take-off and landing aircraft, of the DASSO company, France (see Prince E. Tsikhosh, Supersonic Aircraft, M., Mir, 1983, p. 113 ...) is known. .114, 315 ... 316, Fig. 1.54, 1.55, 2.113), containing the fuselage of the beam structure, landing gear, delta wing, keel with rudder, power unit (SU), including 8 lifting gas turbine engines installed vertically in the fuselage with nozzles down in groups of 4 engines symmetrically with respect to the center of gravity of the aircraft, and a marching GTE installed in the rear of the fuselage in a horizontal position, and a control system Niya aircraft: in level flight - elevons and rudder; in vertical flight - 10 nozzles located on the nose and tail of the fuselage and wing consoles, connected by special pipelines through controlled valves to compressors for lifting gas turbine engines.

 An increase in the number of lift GTEs significantly reduces the reliability of the SU, and therefore the safety of using the aircraft, as evidenced by the destruction of all experimental aircraft with SU of a similar design during testing. The fact is that a significant removal of lifting gas-turbine engines from the center of gravity even with a partial change in the traction force of one of them leads to a tipping moment that cannot be countered by the control system, as a result of which the aircraft loses stability and capsizes. The failure of any element of the nozzle control system will lead to the same effect, because pitch and roll nozzles can create a moment in only one direction (they are rigidly fixed and compressed air can only flow down). In addition, the presence of a large number of lifting gas-turbine engines requires a significant increase in the volume of the aircraft fuselage, additional mechanisms for driving shutters that close the air intakes and nozzles of the gas-turbine engines, all this ultimately leads to a significant increase in the weight of the aircraft and a decrease in its weight efficiency.

 Also known is the vertical take-off and landing aircraft VJ-101C of the association "EWR-Süd", Germany (see Prince E. Tsikhosh, "Supersonic planes", M., Mir, 1983, pp. 111 ... 116, 317 ... 319, Fig. 1.54, 1.56, 2.114 .... 2.116), containing the fuselage of the beam structure, landing gear, a wing having two consoles, a keel with a rudder and a controlled stabilizer, SU, including two lifting gas turbine engines installed behind the cab in the fuselage vertically with nozzles downward, and four lift-marching gas turbine engines, placed in two rotary nacelles mounted at the ends of the wing, and the aircraft control system: in horizontal flight - ailerons, controlled stabilizer and rudder; in vertical flight - engine thrust.

Compared with the MIRAGE-BALZAK aircraft, the VJ-101C has a number of advantages:
- at takeoff and landing, the thrust of all engines can be used;
- it is possible to use forcing lifting and marching gas turbine engines, which increases their effectiveness;
- the use of rotary nacelles simplifies the transition to various phases of flight;
- control on the modes of vertical take-off, hovering and landing is carried out by differential changes in the thrust of individual groups of engines;
- the turn of the gondolas makes it possible to carry out a short take-off and landing.

 However, the use of a large number of engines located at a considerable distance from the center of gravity of the aircraft in case of failure of any engine or their control system will lead to the appearance of a tilting moment, which cannot always be countered by the control system, in which case the aircraft will capsize. The fact that one of the 2 experimental samples crashed, and the program for creating this aircraft is closed, indicates the insufficient safety of the aircraft of this scheme.

 The closest to the claimed design of the vertical take-off and landing aircraft in technical essence and the achieved result from its use is the design of the vertical take-off and landing aircraft V-22 "Osprey" (see P. Bowers, Aircraft of unconventional designs, Moscow, Mir, 1991, 229, 230, Fig. 11.21), containing the fuselage with a gondola, a landing gear, a wing with two consoles and a center wing, in front of which a gondola is fixed, a plumage, including two keels and a stabilizer, a power plant, including two lifting and marching doors a gatel installed in rotary engine nacelles at the wing ends together with two (connected to them by transmissions) propellers with the possibility of their rotation in the vertical plane by 98 degrees and with transverse shafts, providing, if necessary, the drive of both screws from one engine, a control system including governing bodies; ailerons of the wing, elevator mounted on the stabilizer, and rudders placed on the keels, as well as a control system for vertical flight and hovering. In this system, in addition to the usual set of rudders, there are "swashplate" (with autonomous swash control) propellers of a variable ball, which allows you to tilt the thrust vector in any direction with the engine fixed. That is, the control system of this aircraft allows you to control the flight of the aircraft, firstly, by changing the thrust of individual propellers by changing the pitch of each screw and, secondly, by providing the necessary tilt of the axes of the propellers using a "swashplate".

 Although this design of the aircraft makes it possible to ensure its vertical take-off and landing, the complicated design of the propellers, the complicated transmission, the sophisticated control system for the take-off and landing modes, and the spaced apart arrangement of the propellers reduce the reliability of the entire airplane so much that it will lead to an inevitable disaster in case of breakdown or failure of the pitch change mechanism or swashplate of any screw.

 In addition, this system has low efficiency, due to the presence of each propeller drive from its own engine, which in turn excludes the possibility of switching in horizontal flight to a power plant operating mode with a thrust-weight ratio of less than one.

 And, finally, the small wing area does not provide the possibility of a safe landing in the event of a complete engine failure in horizontal flight, and large-diameter propellers do not allow achieving sound and supersonic speeds.

 Based on the foregoing, it is obvious that such a design of the aircraft, although it can ensure its flight and hovering, however, in some cases cannot exclude the creation of emergency situations.

 The problem to which the invention is directed, is to increase the safety of flights of vertical take-off and landing.

 This problem is solved using the technical result from the use of the claimed invention, which consists in achieving high reliability of the aircraft both in vertical and horizontal flight, while improving the pilot’s convenience and achieving high supersonic speeds.

 This result is achieved by the fact that the known vertical take-off and landing aircraft containing a fuselage with a gondola, a landing gear, a wing with two consoles and a center wing, in front of which a gondola is fixed, a tail unit comprising two keels and a stabilizer, a power plant including at least one a marching engine mounted in a rotary engine nacelle, a control system including controls: ailerons of the wing, elevator mounted on a stabilizer, and rudders placed on keels, also the control system for vertical flight and hovering, is made with two tail beams fixed on the upper surface of the center wing, a rotary engine nacelle is mounted with pins in bearings mounted on the tail beams, in the center section of the wing above the center of gravity of the aircraft with the possibility of rolling in the plane of its symmetry, this lift-marching engine is made gas turbine, and the keels are mounted on the tail beams.

 In addition, the control system for vertical flight and hovering is made reactive and equipped with pipelines for supplying compressed air to nozzle assemblies located at the ends of the wing and fuselage, with each nozzle assembly kinematically connected respectively to an aileron, elevator or pitch and rudder control levers .

 When two or more lift-marching gas turbine engines are placed in a rotary engine nacelle, the compressors of all lift-march gas-turbine engines are connected to each other by a single collector, which is connected through pipes to the reactive control system pipelines for vertical flight and hovering.

 To increase efficiency, the rotary engine nacelle is made with the possibility of swinging at an angle of 95 ... 120 degrees, the distance of the axis of swing of the rotary engine nacelle from the center of gravity of the aircraft is from 0.05 to 0.5 of the average aerodynamic chord of the wing, and the keels are inclined to the plane of symmetry aircraft and are rigidly interconnected by their upper ends.

 In the event that two lift-marching gas turbine engines are installed in the rotary engine nacelle or more, then it is equipped with an ejector common to all lift-march gas-turbine engines.

 The introduction of additional elements into the aircraft structure, the special implementation of the existing and additional structural elements, as well as their special placement, primarily the placement of the swing axis of the rotary engine nacelle on the vertical axis of the aircraft above its center of gravity, can significantly increase the safety of flights on aircraft of this type with a gas turbine engine by ensuring static stability and controllability during take-off, hovering and landing modes, including in case of failures of the power plant and control system components At the same time ensuring ease of use in the most difficult conditions, as well as achieving high supersonic speeds.

The invention is illustrated by drawings, in which:
- in FIG. 1 shows a general view of a light version of the proposed aircraft in terms of showing the rotary engine nacelle in the position for take-off / landing - a solid line and in the position for horizontal flight - dash-dot line;
- in FIG. 2 shows a side view of a light version of the proposed aircraft with the image of a rotary engine nacelle in two mutually perpendicular positions, similar to FIG. 1;
- in FIG. 3 shows a front view of a light version of the proposed aircraft with an image of a rotary engine nacelle in two mutually perpendicular positions, similar to FIG. 1;
- in FIG. 4 shows a cross-section AA along the nozzle assembly of the roll and the aileron of the wing console;
- in FIG. 5 shows a cross-section BB along the nozzle assembly of the track control on the tail boom and rudder;
- in FIG. 6 shows a cross-section BB in the nozzle pitch control unit on the tail boom and elevator;
- in FIG. 7 shows a cross-section GG on the nozzle pitch control unit and the control lever in the nose of the nacelle;
- in FIG. 8 shows a general view of the cargo version of the proposed aircraft in terms of showing the rotary engine nacelle in the position for take-off / landing - a solid line, and in the position for horizontal flight - dash-dot line;
- in FIG. 9 shows a side view of a cargo variant of the proposed aircraft with the image of a rotary engine nacelle in two mutually perpendicular positions, similar to FIG. 8;
- in FIG. 10 shows a front view of a cargo version of the proposed aircraft with an image of a rotary engine nacelle in two mutually perpendicular positions, similar to FIG. 8.

 The proposed vertical take-off and landing aircraft comprises a fuselage having a nacelle 1 and two tail beams 2, 3, a landing gear with a nose wheel 4, main wheels 5, 6 and tail supports 7, 8; a wing having a center section 9 and two consoles 10, 11 pivotally mounted on the side ends of the center section 9; plumage, including two keels 12, 13 and a stabilizer, consisting of two halves 14, 15; a power plant, consisting of one or more, for example, of three, lifting and marching gas turbine engines 16, mounted in a rotary engine nacelle 17 parallel to each other, and an aerodynamic control system for horizontal flight, including controls; mounted on the wing consoles 10, 11 ailerons 18, 19 and wing mechanization elements, for example, flaps 20, 21, elevators 22, 23, mounted on the stabilizer 14, 15, and rudders 24, 25, mounted on the keels 12, 13, and also a reactive control system for vertical flight and hovering, including a manifold 26, combining compressors for lift-marching gas turbine engines 16 and connected through axles 27, 28 with pipelines 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 for supplying compressed air to the nozzle assemblies 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41. In this case, the nacelle 1 is fixed along the axis of symmetry of the aircraft in front of the center section 9, on the upper surface of the ends of which two tail beams 2 and 3 are fixed.

 Lifting-marching gas turbine engines 16 (if there are more than one) are fixed to each other in a rotary engine nacelle 17 and can have a common air intake and afterburners (not shown), and a common ejector can be installed at the outlet of the rotary engine nacelle 17 42, which allows to increase the static thrust of the power plant and to reduce the speed and temperature of the gases flowing on the engines. A rotary engine nacelle 17 is mounted on the tail beams 2, 3 in the center section of the center section 9 with the possibility of swinging in the plane of symmetry of the aircraft at an angle b = 95. ..120 degrees through hollow trunnions 27, 28, through which all are connected to the lifting and marching gas turbine engines 16 communication and through which from a single collector 26 compressed by compressors (not shown) of the gas turbine engines 16, air is supplied through pipelines 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 to the nozzle assemblies 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 reactive control system.

 The axis of the pins 27, 28 of the rotary engine nacelle 17 is raised above the center of gravity (t.t.) of the aircraft by a distance "h" equal to 0.05 ... 0.5 of the average aerodynamic chord of the wing.

 Nozzle assemblies 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 are installed near the corresponding organs of the aerodynamic control system 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and have valves 43, 44, 45, which are kinematically connected with by these bodies, for example, by means of rigid rods 47, 48, 49. The valve 46 of the nozzle assembly 37 is kinematically connected to the lever 50 by, for example, the rod 51. All nozzle assemblies 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 each have two oppositely directed nozzles "a" and "b", and for each nozzle assembly 35, 36, 37, 40, 41, the lower nozzle "b" is open at a neutral position associated with this nozzle at the evil of the corresponding governing body 18 ... 25 or lever 50 and, thus, is involved in the creation of lifting force.

 In the nozzle assemblies 38 and 39, when the rudders 24 and 25 are in a neutral position, both nozzles a and b are closed.

 The keels 12, 13 (see Fig. 3, 10) are fixed on the rear parts of the beams 2, 3 obliquely to the plane of symmetry of the aircraft and are rigidly fastened together by their upper ends.

 In the cargo version of the proposed aircraft (see Fig. 8, 9, 10), the tail beams 2, 3 can be made in the form of cargo cabins, the wing consoles 10, 11 are fixedly fixed at the ends of the center section 9, and the wheels 4, 4 'are front landing gear and 5, 5 ', 6, 6' of the main struts are paired.

 The operation of the proposed aircraft vertical takeoff and landing is as follows.

 Mode 1. "TAKEOFF".

 Before takeoff, the rotary engine nacelle 17 is installed in a vertical position (see fi. 1, 2, 3) with the nozzles of the lifting and marching gas turbine engines 16 down. In this case, the vector of their total thrust is directed from the center of gravity of the aircraft vertically upwards, which ensures the stability of the aircraft during takeoff (as well as during hovering or landing). The minimum distance of the axis of each lift-marching gas turbine engine 16 from the vertical axis passing through the center of gravity of the aircraft allows, for example, when one of the lift-march gas-turbine engines 16 fails, it is easy to counter the arising moment by the reactive control system, without turning off the symmetrically located engine and keeping the horizontal position of the aircraft, the pilot can either continue to take off or land. Control in all axes during take-off and landing, as well as hovering modes is provided by nozzle assemblies 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 by creating control moments during the expiration of compressed air by compressors of the lift-propulsion gas-turbine engines 16 in the desired direction, and the valves 43, 44, 45, 46 of the nozzle assemblies 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 are controlled by the corresponding bodies of the aerodynamic control system 18 ... 25 and lever 50, which provides the pilot with all the flight modes that are familiar to him sensations close to arising in bychnom horizontal flight.

 Take-off and landing of an aircraft in case of excessive payload or, for example, at high altitude above sea level, can be performed traditionally from a conventional aerodrome, and the inclination of the rotary engine nacelle 17 by 30 ... 50 degrees from the horizontal position can drastically reduce the take-off run ) aircraft.

Mode II. "LEVEL FLIGHT"
After gaining sufficient height or immediately after separation, the rotary engine nacelle 17 is set to a horizontal position at a given speed. At the same time, the plane, gradually gaining speed, goes into horizontal flight. When reaching a speed that ensures the creation of sufficient lift for a horizontal flight, one or more engines can be turned off and further flight will be performed in an economical mode. In the event of a failure of a running engine, horizontal flight can be continued on another engine. At the same time, flying on all engines provides supersonic speeds of up to 2 M or more, and a sufficient wing area provides the aircraft with aerodynamic quality of at least 10 ... 15, which allows even in case of failure of all engines in horizontal flight with a certain margin of safety to make a safe landing .

 Mode III. "HANGING".

 To perform tasks on monitoring the terrain, choosing a place for landing, etc. the aircraft can be operated in hover mode, i.e. stop in the air. To do this, the rotary engine nacelle 17 is translated into a vertical position (see Fig. 1, 2, 3) and the total thrust of the lift-marching gas turbine engines 16 is compared with the weight of the aircraft.

 An additional tilt (swing) of the rotary engine nacelle 17 allows the aircraft to stop, move forward or backward, including tilting to the nose or tail due to the corresponding deviation of the elevators 22, 23 and the lever 50, as well as the associated latches of the nozzle assemblies 37 , 40, 41. In this case, the nozzle units 35, 36, controlled by ailerons 18, 19, allow you to roll the aircraft and, accordingly, cause it to slide toward the roll, and the nozzle units 38, 39, controlled by rudders 24, 25, provide rotation aircraft around vert axis in any direction.

 IV mode. "LANDING".

 To switch from horizontal flight to landing mode, all previously stopped lifting and marching gas turbine engines 16 are started and the rotary engine nacelle 17 is moved to the extreme position with the nozzles of the lifting and marching gas turbine engines 16 down. Moreover, due to the fact that the swing angle of the rotary engine nacelle 17 is 95 ... 120 degrees, a horizontal thrust component appears, which slows down the aircraft. Faster braking will be provided when the aircraft gives a positive pitch angle. After the transition to hovering mode, the thrust of the lift-marching gas turbine engines 16 decreases and the plane makes a smooth landing.

 After landing the aircraft to facilitate taxiing and placing it in the hangar, the wing consoles 10, 11 are raised (see Fig. 3), which significantly reduces the width of the aircraft.

Using the invention allows:
1. To ensure a significant increase in flight safety on aircraft with jet lift-marching gas turbine engines, including in the event of a failure of some engines due to the provision and practical maintenance of the aircraft's static stability in vertical flight modes.

 2. To ensure high efficiency of the operation of the aircraft by providing the ability to perform horizontal flight on one or part of the engines.

 3. To ensure the use of thrust of all engines in all flight modes, as well as forcing them.

 4. Provide the ability to achieve high supersonic speeds.

 5. Provide the ability to create aircraft with a gas turbine engine of any size and mass: from light single to multi-ton cargo.

 6. Ensure that the take-off can be carried out in the traditional way from a regular aerodrome or from a short unprepared site (in case of overweight payload or at high altitude) with a sharp reduction in take-off length.

 7. Simplify control of the aircraft in vertical flight modes and provide the pilot with a comfortable working environment through the use of traditional control levers, which allows you to maintain the familiar sensations that are similar to those arising in normal horizontal flight.

Claims (7)

 1. A vertical take-off and landing airplane, comprising a fuselage with a gondola, a landing gear, a wing with two consoles and a center wing, in front of which a nacelle is fixed, an empennage comprising two keels and a stabilizer, a power plant including at least one lift-marching engine, installed in a rotary engine nacelle, a control system including controls: ailerons of the wing, elevator mounted on a stabilizer, and rudders placed on keels, as well as a control system for a vertical field and hovering, characterized in that it is made with two tail beams fixed on the upper surface of the center section, a rotary engine nacelle is mounted with pins in bearings mounted on the tail beams, in the center section of the center section above the center of gravity of the aircraft with the possibility of swinging in the plane of its symmetry, this lift-marching engine is made gas turbine, and the keels are mounted on the tail beams.  2. The aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that the control system for vertical flight and hovering is made reactive and equipped with pipelines for supplying compressed air to nozzle assemblies located at the ends of the wing and fuselage, with each nozzle assembly kinematically connected respectively to an aileron, rudder pitch or pitch and rudder controls.  3. Aircraft according to claim 2, characterized in that when placing two or more lifting and marching gas turbine engines in a rotary engine nacelle, the compressors of all lifting and marching gas turbine engines are connected to each other by a single collector, which is connected through the pins to the pipelines of the reactive control system for vertical flight and hovering. 4. The aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that the rotary engine nacelle is made with the possibility of rolling at an angle of 95 - 120 ^o .  5. The aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance of the swing axis of the rotary engine nacelle from the center of gravity of the aircraft is 0.05 - 0.5 of the average aerodynamic chord of the wing.  6. The aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that the keels are inclined to the plane of symmetry of the aircraft and are rigidly connected to each other by their upper ends.  7. The aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that the rotary engine nacelle, in which there are two lift-marching gas turbine engines or more, is equipped with an ejector common to all lift-march gas-turbine engines.

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