Patent ID: 7967219

Claim:
A variable area thrust nozzle for a gas turbine engine comprising: a tubular structure curved in cross-section and having an interior wall terminating in an exhaust gas outlet at its downstream end; means within said tubular structure for varying the area of said exhaust gas outlet, said means including a flap having a pivotal connection at its downstream end to said tubular structure on an axis extending across said exhaust gas outlet adjacent the downstream end thereof, said flap extending from said pivotal connection in an upstream direction within the tubular structure; and means to move said flap between a first position where the area of said exhaust gas outlet is smallest and a second position where the area of said exhaust gas outlet is maximum, said flap having a shape where its wall slopes toward the wall of said tubular structure and its side and upstream edges are in sealing contact with the wall of said tubular structure when in the first position and where its wall is parallel with and spaced from the wall of said tubular structure when in the second position.