Extended endurance air vehicle

摘要

An air vehicle comprises a vehicle body and a propulsion assembly. The vehicle body has the shape of a wing airfoil to generate lift when air flows over the vehicle body. The vehicle body has a body longitudinal axis and substantially planar port and starboard sides of composite material, and includes first and second hulls that are secured together side-by-side, the hulls having longitudinal axes that are substantially parallel to the body longitudinal axis and two substantially planar side walls at least one of which is of composite material. Each hull defines a separate fluid chamber that is filled with a fluid that is at least partially buoyant. The propulsion assembly is secured to the vehicle body port and starboard sides. The propulsion assembly includes port front and rear engines and starboard front and rear engines, wherein at least two of the engines have independently controlled thrust vectors.

主权项

1. An air vehicle comprising:
a vehicle body having the shape of a wing airfoil so that the vehicle body generates lift when air flows over the vehicle body, the vehicle body having an outer skin including a substantially planar port side, a substantially planar starboard side, a body front, a body rear, a body longitudinal axis, and a body transverse axis positioned halfway between the body front and the body rear, the substantially planar port side and the substantially planar starboard side being formed from composite material, the vehicle body including a first hull having a first hull longitudinal axis, and a second hull having a second hull longitudinal axis, the hulls being positioned adjacent to one another and secured to one another in a side-by-side manner with the first hull longitudinal axis and the second hull longitudinal axis being substantially parallel to the body longitudinal axis, and each hull including a substantially planar first side wall and an opposed, substantially planar second side wall that are substantially parallel to one another, the side walls of each hull being substantially parallel to the side walls of each of the other hulls, and wherein the first side wall or the second side wall of each of the hulls is formed from composite material, and wherein the vehicle body is filled with a lighter-than-air gas; and a propulsion assembly that is secured to the vehicle body, the propulsion assembly generating thrust and including a port front engine that is secured to the substantially planar port side of the vehicle body between the body front and the body transverse axis, a port rear engine that is secured to the substantially planar port side of the vehicle body between the body transverse axis and the body rear, a starboard front engine that is secured to the substantially planar starboard side of the vehicle body between the body front and the body transverse axis, and a starboard rear engine that is secured to the substantially planar starboard side of the vehicle body between the body transverse axis and the body rear, wherein each engine is movable in two degrees of freedom, each engine including a fan blade assembly, a fan motor that provides a force to rotate the fan blade assembly to generate thrust, and a fan positioner that selectively moves the fan blade assembly and the fan motor relative to the vehicle body, the fan positioner including a pitch actuator that adjusts an angle of thrust about a first axis and a yaw actuator that adjusts the angle of thrust about a second axis that is different from the first axis.