Improvements in and relating to composite vertical take-off aircraft

Abstract

Abstract 926,613. Composite aircraft. ENGLISH ELECTRIC CO. Ltd. April 10, 1959 [April 14, 1958], No. 11863/58. Class 4. A composite aircraft comprises a flying platform having a delta-shaped body 10 of aerodynamic sectional profile provided with stabilizer-fins 11, faired telescopic supporting legs 13, a pair of cockpits 12 and a plurality of turbo-jet engines 17 or ducted fans which may be swung bodily about transverse axes or may be provided with means to deflect the exhaust to provide initial vertical take-off and subsequent forward propulsion. Compressed air nozzles 18 or ducted fans are provided for control and stabilization. An aircraft to be flown on to and off the platform comprises a delta wing 1, fuselage 2 and a triangle undercarriage 3 with a retractable hook bar 5 located between and slightly in front of the main under-carriage legs, said bar being positioned to engage a forwardly-open hook-on gear 15 on the platform. The aircraft is loaded on to the platform by means of a cable operated by a winch 16 on the platform, which draws the aircraft up ramps 14, the rear legs 13 being telescoped to lower the back end of the platform for this purpose. Alternatively the aircraft could be loaded in a similar manner from the front, in which ease the twin cockpits 12 could be replaced by a single centrally disposed one. During take-off the platform is flown to appropriate altitude and a speed in excess of the stalling speed of the aeroplane, which is then free to fly off under its own powerupon release of connection 5, 15. During landing and when the aeroplane has almost alighted on the platform, the latter is accelerated in flight relative to the aircraft to engage the hooking gear 15 with the bar 5. The composite aircraft then carries out a vertical landing under the power of engines 17. A co-ordinating system comprising sensing devices, autostabilisers and computing devices is illustrated by block diagrams in Fig. 5 (not shown), whereby the relative movements of the aircraft and the platform may co-ordinate during landing and take-off. It is stated that the arrangement of lift engines on the platform provides a gas curtain for a ground cushion. Reference has been directed by the Comptroller to Specification 882,073.

Inventors

• 👤 Raymond Frederick Creasey
• 👤 Bernard Oliver Heath
• 👤 Joseph Thomas Froud

Bibliographic Details