Patent ID: 8561935

Claim:
An aircraft comprising, in combination: (a) a fuselage having a front end, a rear end and two lateral sides, said fuselage defining a substantially horizontal central longitudinal axis of the aircraft; (b) an aircraft tail arranged at the rear end of the fuselage and including a rudder and an elevator on each side of the fuselage, said rudder and elevator having movable surfaces for control of the aircraft; (c) a wing on each side of the fuselage, each wing having a leading edge, a trailing edge, an upper surface and a lower surface extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge thereof; (d) a first device for increasing the speed of the air stream flowing over the upper surface of each wing having at least one air blower disposed on each wing which includes: (1) at least one shaft mounted for rotation in the respective wing component and extending substantially parallel to said wing axis; and (2) a plurality of fan blades attached to each shaft and configured to cause movement of air over said upper surface in a direction toward the trailing edge of the respective wing component upon rotation of the respective shaft, at least a portion of said fan blades extending above said upper surface; and (e) a second device for controlling an air stream flowing over the upper surface of each wing, said device comprising: (1) a plurality of openings in the material forming the upper surface of the respective wing for the egress of air from at least one interior space within the respective wing to said upper surface thereof, said openings being disposed in said upper surface in a region between the leading edge and trailing edge of the wing and being configured to (i) emit air over an airflow surface formed by at least a portion of said upper surface, and (ii) entrain, with the emitted air, other air that moves over said upper surface; and (2) an air pump apparatus for pressurizing said at least one interior space within each wing in communication with said openings, wherein said openings are configured to direct airflow over the upper surface of each wing in a direction toward said trailing edges thereof and to entrain and control the flow of said other air that moves over said upper surface; and wherein at least a portion of said second device is arranged in said wing aft of said first device in the direction of flow of the air stream.