Patent GB-885659-A (GB)
Title: Wingless supersonic aircraft
IPC: B64C29/00
Filed: 1958-05-19
Abstract: 885,659. Aircraft. LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION. May 19. 1958 [Aug.13,' 1957], No. 15965/58. Class 4. [Also in Group XXVI] A wingless aircraft capable of vertical take-off and supersonic flight has a rearwardly-directed propulsion nozzle 24 and secondary nozzles 58 which direct jets of air downwardly over the upper sides of the fuselage to provide both direct-lift and a " Coanda " lifting effect. The fuselage 10 comprises side-by-side substantially circular cabins 11 separated by a central gangway 12 and enclosed by an ovate outer shell which encloses fore-and-aft ducts 17, 18, the cabins being formed with end bulkheads 14, 15. Forward propulsion. The nose 21 of the fuselage is formed as a ram air inlet 22 housing a diffuser 27 which may be axially adjusted in response to the shock wave positions in the inlet and has its axis, together with the associated part of the air inlet, downwardly inclined so that with the air intake at zero incidence the underside of the body acts as an inclined aerofoil. The air inlet 22 extends rearwardly into four branches 31 each housing a gas-turbine engine 30, two upper branches and two lower branches connecting respectively with ducts 17 and 18, the branches being of sufficient size to enable air to flow round the engines. The engines may be relatively inclined or axially offset to ensure that break-up of the rotor of one engine does not damage the rotors of the others. The nozzle 34 of each engine is variable in area in response to airflow through inlet 22 and each nozzle may be flared outwardly to close off the respective branch 31 when there is little or no air being forced into inlet 22. To ensure uniform distribution of flow through the ducts 17 and 18 they are interconnected as at 35 and to prevent reverse or forward flow when one engine is being started with the others idle, check valves 36 are provided to close automatically. Ducts 17 and 18 terminate in a combustion chamber 26 which, to provide ram-jet propulsion, is provided with fuel injector rings 37, the resulting propulsive gases passing through three control vanes 41, 42, 43 which are divided laterally into pairs, each pair being capable of movement in unison or differentially to provide pitching and yawing control respectively of the aircraft. An emergency propulsion system is provided comprising one or more turbo-jet engines 45 having air intakes 46 and separate fuel supply 47 and discharging into ducts 48. Check valves 51 prevent reverse flow into ducts 48 when one of the engines 45 is not operating. The gases from engines 45 pass through nozzles 52 which are normally blanked-off by flap valves 55 and also forwardly extending ducts 53, 54. Lifting propulsion. The duct 17 comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced nozzles 58 each provided with a controllable shutter 75 and exhausting into a duct 60 formed with an inlet 62, having an adjustable shutter 67, and an outlet 64 having an adjustable shutter 65, the shutters 65 and 67 being closed when the aircraft is flying at supersonic speeds. The shutters 75 are grouped in four banks-fore and aft and port and starboard, and these may be operated selectively by combined solenoids and fluidpressure motors acting on linkages to provide directional control of the aircraft. The lift system further includes means for adding energy to the streams of air discharged from duct 17 into ducts 60. Perforated burner tubes 70, located adjacent the inlets to nozzles 58, are provided with ignition means and fuel nozzles. The ducts 53, 54 supplied with air from the previously mentioned emergency propulsion system have outlets 94, Fig. 4, which induce a flow of air through ducts 60 to generate lift when the main power plant is inoperative. The outlets 64 may have, in place of shutters 67, valves mounted on axes normal to the local surface of the aircraft whereby the flow through the outlets may be blanked-off or directed forwardly or rearwardly. In a further embodiment additional ducts are provided in the lower part of the fuselage and are formed with controllable downwardly directed nozzles.