US008500061B2
(12) United States Patent (10) Patent N0.2 US 8,500,061 B2 Chen (45) Date of Patent: Aug. 6, 2013
(54) AIRCRAFT WITHVTOL TECHNOLOGY 6,260,794 131* 7/2001 Rowe ...... 244/125 6,318,668 B1 * 11/2001 Ulanoski et 31. .. 244/125 (76) Inventor: Li Jing Chen, Bougival (FR) 6,371,407 B1* 4/2002 Renshaw ...... 244/125 6,520,450 B1 * 2/2003 Seyfang .. .. 244/125 8,020,804 B2 * 9/2011 Yoeli ...... 244/23 D ( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 2009/0121073 A1* 5/2009 Doane et a1. .. 244/125 patent is extended or adjusted under 35 2011/0226890 A1* 9/2011 Chen ...... 244/125 U.S.C. 154(b) by 339 days. * cited by examiner (21) Appl.No.: 12/926,629 (22) Filed: Dec. 1, 2010 Primary Examiner * Christopher P Ellis Assistant Examiner * Medhat BadaWi (65) Prior Publication Data (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm * Jackson Patent LaW O?ice US 2011/0226890 A1 Sep. 22, 2011 (30) Foreign Application Priority Data (57) ABSTRACT An aircraft includes a jet engine With a doWnWard de?ectable Dec. 11,2009 (FR) 09 05991 propelling noZZle; an auxiliary poWer unit With a doWnWard Jul. 19,2010 (FR) ...... 10 03019 de?ectable propelling noZZle; and a transformable Wing. The (51) Int. Cl. transformable Wing includes a ?xed Wing, hydraulic sleeve, B64C 29/00 (2006.01) an air intake duct including an upper Wall and a loWer Wall, a (52) US. Cl. thin Wing connected to the hydraulic sleeve, a sliding Wing, USPC ...... 244/12.5; 244/129.4; 244/45 R leading edge ?aps, trailing edge ?aps, an aileron, and a hinge. (58) Field of Classi?cation Search The transformable Wing is con?gured, during vertical take USPC ...... 244/125, 129.4, 23 D, 23 C, 45 R, off/landing, to transform such that a leading end to an air 244/ 12.1 intake duct in a vertical direction is formed on the ?xed Wing, See application ?le for complete search history. and the air intake duct is formed internally in and along a direction of the Wingspan of the ?xed Wing to cause air taken (56) References Cited in by the jet engine to How, in a common direction, over upper and loWer surfaces of the thin Wing, thereby generating lift for U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS vertical take-off/ landing. 4,109,885 A * 8/1978 Pender ...... 244/7 R
4,848,701 A * 7/1989 Belloso ...... 244/12.5 5,433,400 A * 7/1995 Singhal et a1...... 244/12.1 4 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets US. Patent Aug. 6, 2013 Sheet 1 0110 US 8,500,061 B2
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FIG.9 US. Patent Aug. 6, 2013 Sheet 10 0f 10 US 8,500,061 B2
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FIG.1O US 8,500,061 B2 1 2 AIRCRAFT WITH VTOL TECHNOLOGY FIG. 7 is a front vieW of the transformable Wings of an aircraft With this invention during vertical taking off and CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED landing. APPLICATION FIG. 8 is a top vieW of the transformable Wings of an aircraft With this invention during vertical taking off and This Application is claims foreign priority bene?t under 3 5 landing. U.S.C §119 of Patent Application FR2010/0003019 ?led on FIG. 9 is M-M Section for FIG. 8 19 Jul. 2010, and Patent Application FR2009/0005991 ?led FIG. 10 is N-N Section for FIG. 8 on 11 Dec. 2009, the contents of Which are herein incorpo rated by reference. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the invention can achieve VTOL on air craft Whose thrust-to-Weight ratio is smaller than 1. Accord 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to aircraft ing to its ?rst characteristic, the embodiments can obtain or and, more particularly, to aircraft With VTOL technology. generate another lift force for VTOL, in addition to the lift 2. Description of related art force obtained by traditional Ways, by horizontally setting a Currently, VTOL is only possible for aircraft With a thrust Thin Wing at the middle of the perpendicular line of the to-Weight ratio equal to or greater than 1 because of the horizontal section inside the Air Intake Duct. According to the limitation of traditional VTOL technologies Which, Without 20 characteristics of the embodiments, the folloWing are true: exception, get the lift force in vertical direction for VTOL The Thin Wing is a part of the Air Intake Duct and is from a doWnWard-directed propelling nozzle of a jet engine attached to the inner Wall of the latter in a ?xed or solely, or its combination With a lift fan. ?exible Way. The Thin Wing Will produce a lift force When air ?oWs over it and the produced lift force Will be BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 25 then transmitted to the inner Wall of the Air Intake Duct to lift the aircraft off the ground. An aircraft to achieve vertical take-off and landing The Thin Wing is designed such that its area and shape take (VTOL), the aircraft comprising: a jet engine With a doWn into full consideration the air in?oW of the jet engine and Ward de?ectable propelling nozzle; an auxiliary poWer unit can ensure the produced lift force Will be greater than the With a doWnWard de?ectable propelling nozzle; and a trans 30 difference betWeen the maximum take-off Weight and formable Wing comprising a ?xed Wing, a hydraulic sleeve, the vertical thrust of an aircraft. an air intake duct including an upper Wall and a loWer Wall, a The entire or part of the Air Intake Duct With a Thin Wing thin Wing connected to the hydraulic sleeve and located can be ?xed or formed through the transformation of between the upper and loWer Walls, a sliding Wing, leading components of an aircraft. edge ?aps, trailing edge ?aps, an aileron, and a hinge, the 35 The entire or part of the Air Intake Duct With a Thin Wing transformable Wing being con?gured, during vertical take can be ?tted to the fuselage or Wings of an aircraft. off/landing, to transform such that a leading end to an air The leading end of the Air Intake Duct With a Thin Wing in intake duct in a vertical direction is formed on the ?xed Wing, horizontal direction can be opened or closed. and the air intake duct is formed internally in and along a The leading end of the Air Intake Duct With a Thin Wing in direction of the Wingspan of the ?xed Wing to cause air taken 40 vertical direction can be opened or closed. in by the jet engine to ?oW, in a common direction, over upper As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 7, an aircraft With this and loWer surfaces of the thin Wing, a chord line of the thin invention is mainly made up of a fuselage (18), transformable Wing being in the direction of the Wingspan of the ?xed Wing, Wings (19), an extended section (6) of the air intake duct for thereby generating lift for vertical take-off/ landing, the trans the Wing, an openable/closable leading end (8) of the air formable Wing being con?gured, during forWard ?ight, to 45 intake duct in horizontal direction and that (20) in vertical restore a normal shape in order to reduce drag, the aircraft direction, a jet engine (7) With a propelling nozzle (21) that further including an assembly, Which is an integral and can be directed doWnWard, and an APU (9) With a propelling inseparable part of the transformable Wing, the assemble nozzle (10) that can be directed doWnWard. The air intake including an extended section of air intake duct, an openable duct (5) formed by the transformable Wing (19), together With and closable leading end to air intake duct in horizontal direc 50 the extended section (6) of the air intake duct for the Wing, tion, and an openable and closable leading end to air intake jointly forms an intake duct (5,6) With a thin Wing (2) to duct in vertical direction. produce an additional lift force besides the one produced by traditional technologies. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING As illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10, the transform 55 able Wing (19) is made up of a ?xed Wing (3), a hydraulic FIG. 1 is a side vieW of an aircraft With this invention on sleeve (1), a thin Wing (2), a sliding Wing (4), a leading edge ground (Without landing gear) and during horizontal ?ight. ?ap (11,14) and a trailing edge ?ap (12,15), aileron (17) and FIG. 2 is a front vieW of the transformable Wings of an hinge (13). aircraft With this invention on ground and during horizontal When taking off from the ground, the Fixed Wing (3) of the ?ight. 60 Transformable Wing (19) is ?xed to the Fuselage (18), and the FIG. 3 is a top vieW of the transformable Wings of an Sliding Wing (4) and Thin Wing (2), under the action of the aircraft With this invention on ground and during horizontal Hydraulic Sleeve (1), Will go doWn to a position Where the ?ight. Leading End (20) of the Air Intake Duct in vertical direction FIG. 4 is A-A Section for FIG. 3. Will open and the Jet Engine (7), With the Leading (8) End of FIG. 5 is B-B Section for FIG. 3 65 the Air Intake Duct in horizontal direction closed, can freely FIG. 6 is a side vieW of an aircraft With this invention take air in from the Air Intake Duct (5) of the Transformable during vertical taking off and landing. Wing (19) at a ?oW rate enough for the Thin Wing (2) to US 8,500,061 B2 3 4 produce a lift force for VTOL. At the same time, the upper (14) and lower part (11) of the Leading Edge Flap and the upper (15) and lower part (12) of the Trailing Edge Flap as ANNEX 1 well as the Aileron (17) begin to rotate around the Hinge (13) m S/N of Jet Engine (Dimensionless Unit) to increase the lift for the transition between vertical taking n S/N of Thin Wing (Dimensionless Unit) off/landing and horiZontal ?ight. The Leading End (8) of the F Total Lift Force of Thin Wing In (Unit: kg) F" Lift Force of Thin Wing (Unit: kg) Air Intake to the Jet Engine (7) is closed to prevent the aircraft G Maximum Take-Off Weight of Aircraft (Unit: kg) from horizontal movement and to increase the Air Flow (16) Sm m S/N of Jet Engine (Dimensionless Unit) through the Air Intake Duct (5,6) with a Thin Wing (2). Also, Sm Area of Air Intake to Jet Engine (Unit: m2) Fm Jet Engine Thrust (Unit: kg) the horiZontal thrust generated by the Jet Engine (7) will be S" Area of Air Intake at the Leading End of (Unit: m2) directed downward by the Propelling NoZZle (10). Then, the Thin Wing Jet Engine (7) starts to increase the thrust gradually. Now, the p Air Density (Unit: kgm3) qm Air Intake of Jet Engine (Unit: kgs) Air (16) ?ows through theAir Intake Duct (4) which is formed Vnw Air Flow at the Leading End of Thin Wing (Unit: m/s) as the Sliding Wing and Thin Wing are going down. Because a Sonic Speed (Unit: m/s) the velocity of the Air ?owing over the upper surface of the Manw Mach Number = V" 0C/a (Dimensionless Unit) 7t" Aspect Ratio of Thin Wing (Dimensionless Unit) Thin Wing (2) within the Air Intake Duct (5) of the Trans (Taking the ratio of the line between the midpoints of left and right formable Wing (19) is higher than that over the lower surface edge of the Thin Wing to that between the leading and trailing edge) of the Thin Wing (2), and according to Bernoulli’s Principle stating an increase in the speed occurs simultaneously with a CnL Lift Coefficient of Thin Wing (Dimensionless Unit) 20 m, Lift Curve Slope of Thin Wing (Unit: l/rad) decrease in pressure, we know that there will be a lift force ca Lift Curve Slope ofAerofoil of Thin (Unit: l/rad) produced on the wing due to the lower pressure on the upper Wing = 27: surface of the Thin Wing (2) than that on the lower surface of 0t" AOA of Aerofoil of Thin Wing (Unit: rad) (1nL:O0 Zero-Lift AOA of Aerofoil of Thin Wing (Unit: rad) the Thin Wing (2). And this Lift Force is then transmitted to e Span E?'ICl?HCy Factor (Dimensionless Unit) the fuselage through the Hydraulic Sleeve (1) and Fixed Wing 25 (3). Again, this force is never seen before and is an essential feature distinguishing the present invention from any other Oswald’s E?iciency Factor:(0.7-0.8) VTOL technology. The Thin Wing (2) is designed such that its The Thin Wing can be viewed that the length of the line between the midpoints of the left and right edges is the wing area and shape take into full consideration the air in?ow of the span, that between the leading and trailing edge is the chord Jet Engine (7) and can ensure the produced lift force will be 30 length and the aerofoil is a straight wing taking as its chord greater than the difference between the maximum take-off line the line between the midpoints of the leading and trailing weight and the vertical thrust of an aircraft. The Air Intake Duct (5) of the Transformable Wing (19) is extended to the Jet edges.
Engine (7) through an extended section (6) (a suspended arm 35 in this case). The air ?ows through the Air Intake Duct (5) of FIEFn (1) the Transformable Wing (19) and the Extended Section (6) (a suspended arm in this case) of theAir Intake Duct of the Wing and enters into the Jet Engine (7) where the air is burned and blown out of the Propelling NoZZles (10) which is now 40 directed downward to generate lift force to lift the aircraft off Area of Air Intake to Jet Engine (Unit: m2) the ground. There are now two lift forces to achieve VTOL, Fm Jet Engine Thrust (Unit: kg) i.e. one generated by the Air (16) ?owing through the Air S" Area of Air Intake at the Leading End of (Unit: m2) Intake Duct (5,6) with a Thin Wing (2) and the other one Thin Wing generated by the hi gh-temp burned air thrown out of the 45 p Air Density (Unit: kgm3) qm Air Intake of Jet Engine (Unit: kgs) downward-directed Propelling NoZZles (10) of the Jet Engine Vnw Air Flow at the Leading End of Thin Wing (Unit: m/s) (7) and (21) of the APU (9). The Hydraulic Sleeve (1) now can a Sonic Speed (Unit: m/s) drive the left and right Sliding Wing (4) to move up and down Manw Mach Number = V" 0C/a (Dimensionless Unit) 7t" Aspect Ratio of Thin Wing (Dimensionless Unit) to balance the aircraft horizontally during vertical taking off (Taking the ratio of the line between the midpoints of left and right and landing, correspondingly, the vertical balance can be 50 edge of the Thin Wing to that between the leading and trailing edge) controlled by adjusting the angle at which the Propelling CnL Lift Coefficient of Thin Wing (Dimensionless Unit) NoZZles (10) of the Jet Engine (7) and (21) of the APU (9) are Cm, Lift Curve Slope of Thin Wing (Unit: l/rad) directed downward. ca Lift Curve Slope ofAerofoil of Thin (Unit: l/rad) Wing = 27: A transition to horiZontal ?ight from vertical taking off can 55 0t" AOA of Aerofoil of Thin Wing (Unit: rad) be achieved by performing the above steps in reverse order. (1nL:O0 Zero-Lift AOA of Aerofoil of Thin Wing (Unit: rad) Similarly, a transition to vertical landing from horiZontal e Span E?'ICl?HCy Factor (Dimensionless Unit) ?ight can be achieved by repeating these steps. Oswald’s Ef?ciency Factor = (0.7-0.8) All the formulas and calculations for this invention are listed in Annex 1. 60 The Thin Wing can be viewed that the length of the line between the midpoints of the left and right edges is the wing All the formulas and calculations used to retro?t an Airbus span, that between the leading and trailing edge is the chord A-380 based on this invention are listed in Annex 2. length and the aerofoil is a straight wing taking as its chord This invention can be used to retro?t an existing aircraft to line the line between the midpoints of the leading and trailing achieve VTOL or manufacture a VTOL aircraft with a thrust 65 edges. to-weight ratio smaller than 1. Manw I Vnw/a (3) US 8,500,061 B2 5 6 VTOL can be achieved once F+ZFMZG m : q_m X i (m z 1 2 3 ) (4) Formula (5) through (1 1) are taken directly from the litera ” P Sm ’ ’ ture Aer0dynamics(Ch. 4, Vol. 1, edit by Wu Ziniu Tsin ghua University Press, Beijing, April, 2007) andAircrafl 5 Performance and Design(Ch. 3, Anderson Jr D J. NeW CnL:CM((1n-(1nL:o) (5) York: McGraW-Hill, 1999) when h4g5; S (Total Wing Area):845 m For loW-speed ?oW G (Maximum Take-Off Weight):5 60,000 kg 10 2F," (Total Jet Engine Thrust):1 ,208,000/9.8z123,265 kg 00 2,, (6) qm (Air FloW to Trent900 Jet Engine):2,745><0.4536z1,
Cm:1+—C—a=1—2“A” + E Rm (Dia. of Air Intake to Trent900 Jet Engine):0.91 m2 (Manon < 0.3) 15 Assuming: m (SIN of Trent900Jet Engine):1~4 For subsonic ?ow n (S/N of Thin Wing):1~8 S (Total Area of Thin Wing):0.8>
(0.3 < Manes < 0.8) 25 4 A” (Aspect Ratio of Thin Wing) : 3745 : 0.457 For supersonic How
30 0t” —(XnL:O (AOA of Aerofoil-Zero-Lift AOA of Aerofoil for C = L (8) Thin Wing) V Mam — l (Manes > O_8) :3.4°XTI/l80=0.059 rad 35 It can be obtained from the above:
When kn<5: 1 2:314 1 2 For loW-speed ?oW SMTIXVZXRm) ><(/2><0-91)=0-65 In
Sn:1/2Sm:1/§XT|1Rm2:1/2X3.l4X(1/§X0.9l):0.325 m2 C = of‘; (9) 40 1+ Maia, + [Ca/(M012 + ca/(?/ln)
_— + Vn06 = —qm Xsj— = 1245 X0.3252 Z 155 - 985 ml S ( m I l ~ 8) (4) \1 1 + Mai... + (Z/An)2 + 2/)” p Sm 1.297 0.65
(Manes < 0.3) 45
For subsonic ?ow Ma 06 : V m a = 155.985 z 0 459 n n 340 '
50 _ ca (10) Ca (10) Cm — i Cm : i l — Mai“, + [ca/(71%)]2 +ca/(7r/In) 1+M¢1Zm+[Ca/(?/\n)]2 +va/(?/ln) (O3 _ 272- n 2” ‘hMaimHz/My MM" 55 _ 1-Ma2 +(2//1,,)2 +2//tn (0.3 4 l 11 wipi]‘I M61206 -1 2/tn\/ M61206 -1 < > CM = cmmn _ unto) (5) (Manx, <08) 65 =0.7l><0.059 z 0.042 US 8,500,061 B2 7 8 -continued formed on the ?xed Wing, and the air intake duct is (1) formed internally in and along a direction of the Wing span of the ?xed Wing to cause air taken in by the jet engine to How, in a common direction, over upper and loWer surfaces of the thin Wing, a chord line of the thin Wing being in the direction of the Wingspan of the ?xed Wing, thereby generating lift for vertical take-off/land ing, the transformable Wing being con?gured, during forWard ?ight, to restore a normal shape in order to g 447,993 (kg) reduce drag, the aircraft further including an assembly, Which is an integral and inseparable part of the transformable Wing, the assemble including an F+2Fm?147,993+123,265:571,258 (kg) extended section of air intake duct, an openable and closable leading end to air intake duct in horizontal G:560,000 (kg) direction, and an openable and closable leading end to air intake duct in vertical direction. F><2Fm>G (1) 2. The aircraft according to claim 1 Wherein the sliding It is clearly demonstrated above that VTOL is achievable Wing, during the vertical take-off/landing, Will slide, under on Airbus A380 once remodeled as shoWn. the stretching of the hydraulic sleeve, over the ?xed Wing and then form, inside the transformable Wing, an air intake duct in The invention claimed is: 20 1. An aircraft to achieve vertical take-off and landing and along the direction of the Wingspan of the ?xed Wing. (VTOL), the aircraft comprising: 3. The aircraft according to claim 1 Wherein the upper end a jet engine With a doWnWard de?ectable propelling loWer surface of the thin Wing, during the vertical take-off/ landing, Will be detached, under the stretching of the hydrau noZZle; lic sleeve, from the ?xed Wing and the sliding Wing, and an auxiliary poWer unit With a doWnWard de?ectable pro 25 pelling noZZle; and positioned at the middle betWeen the parallel upper Wall and a transformable Wing comprising a ?xed Wing, a hydraulic loWer Wall Within the air intake duct that is formed by the sleeve, an air intake duct including an upper Wall and a ?xed Wing and sliding Wing, With its chord line being in the loWer Wall, a thinWing connected to the hydraulic sleeve direction of the Wingspan of the ?xed Wing. 4. The aircraft according to the claim 1, Wherein the sliding and located betWeen the upper and loWer Walls, a sliding 30 Wing, leading edge ?aps, trailing edge ?aps, an aileron, Wing is con?gured to slide, under the stretching of the hydrau and a hinge, the transformable Wing being con?gured, lic sleeve, over the ?xed Wing and then form, inside the during vertical takeoff/landing, to transform such that a transformable Wing, an air intake duct. leading end to an air intake duct in a vertical direction is * * * * *