US 2005/0151003 A1 Churchman (43) Pub
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US 2005O151003A1 (19) United States (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2005/0151003 A1 Churchman (43) Pub. Date: Jul. 14, 2005 (54) V/STOL BIPLANE jyrodyne. The jyrodyne comprises a central fuselage with biplane-type Wings arranged in a negative Stagger arrange (76) Inventor: Charles Gilpin Churchman, Norcross, ment, a horizontal ducted fan inlet Shroud located at the GA (US) center of gravity in the top biplane wing, a rotor mounted in Correspondence Address: the Shroud, outrigger wing Support landing gear, a forward SUTHERLAND ASBILL & BRENNAN LLP mounted canard wing and passenger compartment, a mul 999 PEACHTREE STREET, N.E. tiple Vane-type air deflector System for control and Stability ATLANTA, GA 30309 (US) in VTOL mode, a Separate tractor propulsion System for forward flight, and a full-span T-tail. Wingtip extensions on (21) Appl. No.: 10/820,378 the two main wings extend aft to attach to the T-tail. The powerplants consist of two four cylinder two-stroke recip (22) Filed: Apr. 8, 2004 rocating internal combustion engines. Power from the engines is distributed between the ducted fan and tractor Related U.S. Application Data propeller through the use of a drivetrain incorporating two (63) Continuation of application No. 10/313,580, filed on pneumatic clutches, controlled by an automotive Style foot Dec. 9, 2002, now Pat. No. 6,848,649, which is a pedal to the left of the rudder pedals. When depressed, continuation-in-part of application No. 09/677,749, power is transmitted to the ducted fan for vertical lift. When filed on Oct. 3, 2000, now abandoned. released, power is transmitted to the tractor propeller for forward flight. The aircraft can also takeoff and land in the Publication Classification conventional manner with a much larger payload, and is easily converted to amphibious usage. Landing gear is a (51) Int. Cl." ..................................................... B64C 15/02 bicycle arrangement with outriggers. The aircraft combines (52) U.S. Cl. ............................................................ 244/12.3 twin engines, heavy-duty landing gear, controlled-collapse crashworthy Seats with a low Stall Speed and high resistance (57) ABSTRACT to Stalls to eliminate any region of the flight regime where The present invention is a 2 passenger aircraft capable of an engine or drivetrain failure could cause an uncontrollable vertical and conventional takeoffs and landings, called a crash. Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 1 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 .- Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 2 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 3 Q S Ca CN G&SR7 CNS. CD \ t d CN O O CN 3 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 3 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 4 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 5 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 S. Section A Section B Section C Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 6 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 CO N Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 7 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 8 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 C Y Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 9 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 10 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 11 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Radius ranges from O} to 0.5 duct diameter 6-7 de Section B Section A Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 12 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 13 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 14 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 W O N Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 15 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 16 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 17 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 18 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 19 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 92 S Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 20 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 2truointse) Øgelnõi) Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 21 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 Euler Column foils at 5 Gs Honeycomb block crushes at 5 Gs up to OGS Honeycomb block, crushed to 8-10 Gs are Foiled Euler Colin Double tube starts sliding at OGS -- -Rear of seat contacts floor at 3O Gs Figure 21 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 22 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 (N Figure 22 Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 23 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 . s is a se v or Patent Application Publication Jul. 14, 2005 Sheet 24 of 24 US 2005/0151003 A1 s . es is so se a a a s s W . e s s - e s a sw s i. s w s s s r W - - s -r e fe as or a • - : is . a -----.S. W.Y. a s . r s a *A N. US 2005/0151003 A1 Jul. 14, 2005 V/STOL BIPLANE 0006 STOL Designs 0007 STOL designs reduce the takeoff and landing runs FIELD OF THE INVENTION for aircraft by primarily reducing the Stall Speed of the 0001. This invention relates to non-rotary wing vertical aircraft. This is accomplished by increasing either the avail and short take-off and landing (V/STOL) passenger aircraft. able wing lifting area or increasing the lift coefficient the Class 244/12.3 appears to be the most appropriate. More wing is capable of producing, by means well known to particularly, the present invention relates to a V/STOL practitioners of the art. Regardless of the design, STOL aircraft in which the rotor plane of a single ducted fan is aircraft must provide forward movement of the aircraft in located horizontally inside the center of a conventional order to produce lift, with the notable exception of the aircraft wing to provide vertical lift, with a fan diameter Custer channelwing aircraft, which could lift vertically much greater than the fuselage width of Said aircraft. An while tethered. additional tractor propeller provides horizontal thrust for 0008 STOL aircraft have the potential to be particularly forward movement in the conventional manner, and is Safe aircraft, Since there is a direct relationship between the located above the rear part of the ducted fan. The aircraft Severity of injuries Sustained in crashes and the Speed at utilizes two main wings in a negative Staggered biplane impact. With a lower potential impact Speed due to lower arrangement, with an oversized Stabilizer and elevator, and Stall Speeds, STOL aircraft can be designed to provide a canard mounted at the front of Said aircraft. The ducted fan complete protection from injury in most crash landing is mounted inside the top wing. Situations. 0002 The aircraft which is the subject of this invention is called aljyrodyne, to differentiate it from gyrodyne, a generic 0009 VTOL Designs term: 1) as in the FARs, used to describe an aircraft with dual 0010 Helicopters propulsion units for vertical and horizontal flight, and 2) a gyroscopic Stabilizer used on the Space Shuttle. There is also 0011 Helicopter designs fall into two broad categories; a a company called the Gyrodyne Company of America, an single lift rotor with a tail rotor to control yaw, and two lift aerospace contractor, which had a trademark, which used the rotorS rotating in opposite directions to control yaw. The name gyrodyne. The trademark has lapsed. It is with this in Single lift rotor is much more popular Since it is simpler, but mind that the term is modified to differentiate this aircraft it yields roughly 30% less direct vertical lift for a given from others. horsepower than the dual rotor System. Typically, helicopter rotor Systems provide a lifting capability of 10-15 pounds 0.003 Ajyrodyne is an aircraft capable of vertical takeoff per horsepower, with top speeds in horizontal flight of leSS and landing(VTOL)which uses dual propulsion units for than 200 miles per hour. Vertical and horizontal flight. The jyrodyne is an integrated concept, which requires the Simultaneous use of a number of 0012. The flight and maintenance problems associated newly developed technologies all working together for it to with helicopters are well known and bear no repeating. Their work properly. It is a Special combination of a number of disadvantages are detailed below in the Section on Disad aerodynamic and propulsion features which taken together vantages of the Prior Art. create a new type of aircraft. 0013 Autogyros and Gyrocopters BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0014) Autogyros provide for lift using an unpowered 0004) The history of non-rotary wing V/STOL(vertical/ overhead rotor System similar to the helicopter, with auxil Short takeoff and landing) aircraft development has gener iary wings to provide Supplemental lift. Gyrocopters do not ally proceeded along two separate paths. STOL(short takeoff have auxiliary wings. Most designs provide pusher propel and landing) aircraft development has centered on conven lers as the primary means of propulsion. The Cartercopter is tional aircraft operation, using enhanced lifting devices to a recent example. shorten takeoff and landing runs. VTOL aircraft develop 0015 Current gyrocopters provide prerotors to spin up ment has centered on the use of powerful jet engines to the main rotor System to high Speed, and then use a “jump” provide the required vertical thrust, and as Such has focused takeoff to lift almost vertically.