Patent ID: 6435453
Filing Date: 2002-08-20
Classification: B64C

Abstract:
A method for controlling an aircraft during horizontal flight, the aircraft having a fuselage, wings attached to the fuselage, a rotor mounted to the fuselage for rotation in a plane of rotation, the rotor comprising at least two blades, each blade having a tip, and a power source that delivers forward thrust for horizontal flight, comprising:providing sufficient thrust from the power source to cause airflow over the wings to provide forward horizontal flight at a desired velocity, the wings being sized to provide enough lift to sustain the horizontal flight; tilting the plane of rotor rotation aft sufficiently relative to the fuselage to cause airflow through the blades due to the horizontal flight to rotate the blades, defining an advancing blade and a retreating blade relative to direction of the horizontal flight; applying a substantially zero collective pitch to the rotor; and with each rotation, allowing the advancing blade to rise and the retreating blade to fall simultaneously relative to the aircraft, thereby decreasing a relative air angle of attack of the advancing blade to reduce lift and increasing a relative air angle of attack of the retreating blade to increase lift, so that essentially a sum of the lift moments of the advancing blade equals a sum of the lift moments of the retreating blade.