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(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 6,974,106 B2 Churchman (45) Date of Patent: Dec

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(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 6,974,106 B2 Churchman (45) Date of Patent: Dec USOO69741 06B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 6,974,106 B2 Churchman (45) Date of Patent: Dec. 13, 2005 (54) V/STOL BIPLANE D304.821 S 11/1989 Ratony ...................... D12/331 (76) Inventor: Charles Gilpin Churchman, 6360 (Continued) Station Mill Dr., Norcross, GA (US) OTHER PUBLICATIONS 3OO92 www.moller.com/skycar?-2 pages. (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 (Continued) U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. Primary Examiner Tien Dinh (21) Appl. No.: 10/820,378 Ea.74) Attorney, pig, Agent,as or Firm-Sutherland Asbill & (22) Filed: Apr. 8, 2004 (57) ABSTRACT (65) Prior Publication Data The present invention is a 2 passenger aircraft capable of US 2005/O151003 A1 Jul. 14, 2005 Vertical and conventional takeoffs and landings, called a O O jyrodyne. The jyrodyne comprises a central fuselage with Related U.S. Application Data biplane-type Wings arranged in a negative Stagger arrange (63) Continuation of application No. 10/313,580, filed on ment, a horizontal ducted fan inlet shroud located at the Dec. 9, 2002, now Pat. No. 6,848,649, which is a center of gravity in the top biplane wing, a rotor mounted in continuation-in-part of application No. 09/677,749, the shot Es: w Support landing gear, a forwar filed on Oct. 3, 2000, now abandoned. mounted canard Wing and passenger compartment, a mul tiple Vane-type air deflector System for control and Stability 7 in VTOL mode, a Separate tractor propulsion System for Int. Cl. ... 244/12 6,244/45 s2. forward flight, and a full-span T-tail. Wingtip extensions on (52) eV3 244 45 R. 244 87 the two main wings extend aft to attach to the T-tail. The / ; 244/ powerplants consist of two four cylinder two-stroke recip (58) Field of Search ............................. 244/12.6, 35 R, rocating internal combustion engines. Power from the 244/12.3, 13, 34 R, 45 R, 123, 12.2, 45A, engines is distributed between the ducted fan and tractor 244/103, 6, 100 R; D12/326,327, 330, 331, propeller through the use of a drivetrain incorporating two D12/337,339 pneumatic clutches, controlled by an automotive Style foot pedal to the left of the rudder pedals. When depressed, (56) References Cited power is transmitted to the ducted fan for vertical lift. When released, power is transmitted to the tractor propeller for U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS forward flight. The aircraft can also takeoff and land in the conventional manner with a much larger payload, and is 2,394.496 A 2/1946 Stephan - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 244/102 easily converted to amphibious uSage. Landing gear is 2,652.215 A 9/1953 Brukner ....................... 244/50 bicycle arrangement with outriggers. The aircraft combines 2.910.254. A 10/1959 Razak ......................... 244/42 twin engines, heavy-duty landing gear, controlled-collapse 3,790,109 A 2/1974 Fishcher ..................... 244/105 crashworthy Seats with a low Stall Speed and high resistance is: A 3.07. Miss a..."2i5. to Stalls to eliminate any region of the flight regime where 4. 1. 25.232 A 11/1978 MacLean et al. .......... 244/12.3 cine or drivetrain failure could cause an uncontrollable 4,795,111 A 1/1989 Moller ........................ 24423 crasn. 4,796,836 A 1/1989 Buchelt ....................... 244/23 4,828.203 A 5/1989 Clifton et al. ............. 244/12.3 32 Claims, 18 Drawing Sheets US 6,974,106 B2 Page 2 U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 6,270,038 B1 8/2001 Cycon et al. .............. 244/12.3 5,026,002 A 6/1991 Yarrington ................. 244/12.1 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 5,035,377 A 7/1991 Buchet ... ... 244/12.1 5,054,716 A 10/1991 Wilson ........................ 2, WWWSolotrek.com/tech Spec.html, 1 page. 5.150.857 A 9/1992 Moffittet al... 244/122 WWWVtoll.com/default.asp, 2 pages. 5,152.478 A 10/1992 Cycon et al. ....... ... 244/12.2 www.roadable.com/busi subpage future.htm, 2 pages. 5,209,428 A 5/1993 Bevilaqua et al. ... 244/12.3 Kuchemann et al., Aerodynamics of Propulsion, 1953, pp. 5,277,380 A 1/1994 Cycon et al. ... ... 244/12.2 136-138. 5,303,879 A 4/1994 Bucher ........................ 244/23 Hollmann, Modern Propeller and Duct Design, pp. 97-99 5,318,248 A 6/1994 Zieliruka .................... 244/12.2 and 102-103. SE A 3. U.S. Jr. et al. ... 244/12.2 McCormick, Jr., Aerodynamics of VSTOL Flight, Academic 2 : 1-2 f Thienphropa)assa (Suratano ............. 244/12.2 Press, pp. 98-99, 234-242, 245, 254-259. 5746,390 A 5/1998 Chiappetta 244/12.3 Ensing, Hints For Homebuilders, A Handy Fixture/Stand, 5,836,541. A 11/1998 Pham ............................ 2442 Sport Aviation, Aug. 1997, p. 119. 5.873.545 A 2/1999 Kapin et al. ... 244/12.3 Bushby, Building The "Midget Mustang", Sport Aviation, 5,890.441 A 4/1999 Swinson et al. ... 244/12.3 May 1966, pp. 10-12. 5,899,409 A * 5/1999 Frediani ...................... 244/13 Phillips, Flying Qualities Requirements for Personal D418,805 S 1/2000 Cycon et al. .............. D12/326 Airplanes, Sport Aviation, Sep. 1959, pp. 20-22. 6,098,923 A * 8/2000 Peters, Jr. ................. 244/45 R Ward, The Skite, Sport Aviation, Mar. 1961, pp. 14-15. 6,116,539 A 9/2000 Williams et al. .............. 244/46 6,170,778 B1 1/2001 Cycon et al. .................. 244/6 * cited by examiner U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 1 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 2 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 3 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 4 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 A727- 47A/ A7. 47 A7- 47/7 A77. A 5 4 AA. AA U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 5 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 9 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 6 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 J| |O)10]00l. a|q|SS0d go afoua) led U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 7 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 • A U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 8 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 -e-Front A. 6-7 deg. 6-7 deg. A. Af A-77. A 6 Front 22 deg. A77. A U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 9 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 Radius ranges from 0.1 to 0.3 duct diameter 6-7 deg. 6-7 deg. A-77. MAA Az7. MAZ Route of flight Over personnel's heads U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 10 0f 18 US 6,974,106 B2 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 11 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 12 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 13 0f 18 US 6,974,106 B2 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 14 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 15 0f 18 US 6,974,106 B2 QAIDA U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 16 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 Euler Column fails at 5Gs Honeycomb block crushes at 5Gs up to 10 Gs Double tube starts sliding of 10 Gs Failed Euler Column A-77. ZZA Double tube starts sliding at 10 Gs Failed Euler Column Rear of seat (Ontacts floor at 30 Gs A-7. A U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 17 0f 18 US 6,974,106 B2 U.S. Patent Dec. 13, 2005 Sheet 18 of 18 US 6,974,106 B2 Fuel tank Conord Fuel tank Midrigger dorsal fin extension ZZ7- 77 US 6,974,106 B2 1 2 V/STOL BIPLANE offset by their poor flight Stability characteristics, and very high initial and maintenance costs. This application is a continuation of U.S. patent applica tion Ser. No. 10/313,580 filed on Dec. 9, 2002, now U.S. Pat. STOL Designs No. 6,848,649, which is a continuation in part of U.S. patent STOL designs reduce the takeoff and landing runs for application Ser. No. 09/677,749 filed on Oct. 3, 2000 now aircraft by primarily reducing the Stall Speed of the aircraft. abandoned. This is accomplished by increasing either the available wing lifting area or increasing the lift coefficient the wing is FIELD OF THE INVENTION capable of producing, by means well known to practitioners This invention relates to non-rotary wing vertical and of the art. Regardless of the design. STOL aircraft must short take-off and landing (V/STOL) passenger aircraft. provide forward movement of the aircraft in order to pro Class 244/12.3 appears to be the most appropriate. More duce lift, with the notable exception of the Custer channel particularly, the present invention relates to a V/STOL wing aircraft, which could lift vertically while tethered. aircraft in which the rotor plane of a single ducted fan is 15 STOL aircraft have the potential to be particularly safe located horizontally inside the center of a conventional aircraft, Since there is a direct relationship between the aircraft wing to provide vertical lift, with a fan diameter Severity of injuries Sustained in crashes and the Speed at much greater than the fuselage width of Said aircraft. An impact. With a lower potential impact Speed due to lower additional tractor or pusher propeller provides horizontal Stall Speeds, STOL aircraft can be designed to provide thrust for forward movement in the conventional manner, complete protection from injury in most crash landing and is located above the rear part of the ducted fan.
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