Patent ID: 6161800
Filing Date: 2000-12-19
Classification: B64C,Y02T

Abstract:
In a tiltrotor aircraft including a fuselage having a centerline axis, a pair of generally-oppositely-extending wings on the fuselage separated by a mid-fulselage area, and a driven rotor mounted on each wing for rotation between a forward-flight position and a hover position, and wherein the driven rotors in the hover position generate a first spanwise flow toward the mid-fuselage area over one of the wings and a second spanwise flow toward the mid-fuselage area over another of the wings, the improvement comprising a spanwise-flow redirector including:at least one panel mounted on the aircraft for pivotal movement about a respective panel pivot axis between a first position and a second position, each panel pivot axis forming a respective first acute angle with a vertical reference plane containing the centerline axis of the fuselage;wherein the first position is characterized in that the at least one panel is substantially flush with an adjacent surface of at least one of the group consisting of a wing and the mid-fuselage area; andwherein the second position is characterized in that the at least one panel projects above the adjacent surface of the at least one of the group consisting of the wing and the mid-fuselage area to substantially redirect the first spanwise flow generally forward of the second spanwise flow while substantially redirecting the second spanwise flow generally aft of the first spanwise flow.