HELICOPTER TYPE AIRCRAFT WITH GROUND EFFECT STRUCTURE

摘要

HELICOPTER TYPE AIRCRAFT WITH GROUND EFFECT STRUCTURE The aircraft in the nature of a helicopter is movable in a vertical direction when being raised from the ground or landing thereon. The body of the aircraft is toroidal in form, that is the say, the shape of a doughnut having a central aperture. The central aperture has a jet engine mounted therein providing a downward thrust on the centerline of the body aperture. A substantial ground effect is obtained by the use of panels which are movable from the underface of the body to a vertical position enclosing the central area therebeneath. Supports extend upwardly and outwardly from the central jet engine having a pivotally mounted turbine on each of the upper ends, the extending shafts from which have an elongated helicopter type of propeller mounted thereon. A ram, or other type of motor, is employed for tilting one or both of the turbines and propellers from an angular position to a position of greater tilt to provide a forward movement to the body. The jet engine has a chamber which received gas from its pressure chamber and passes it through conduits upwardly through the trunnions of the turbines for driving the turbine motors in opposite directions of rotation to balance the torque from the propellers. A ring about the jet engine is movable downwardly by rams to cam hinge plates upwardly for closing or reducing the size of the aperture at the engine end. This provides substantially more pressure to the turbines permitting the propellers driven thereby to take over substantially the entire suspended weight of the body after it has been raised a substantial distance from the ground and the jet engine lift effect has been substantially reduced. The ground effect panels are moved into recesses at the underface of the body and the turbines and propellers are tilted to direct air through the central opening of the body. While the tilting of the propellers produces forward movement to the body, the direction of flight is more accurately controlled by a rudder in the air stream from the tilted propeller.