Powered lift
Encyclopedia
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
that can take off and land vertically
VTOL
A vertical take-off and landing aircraft is one that can hover, take off and land vertically. This classification includes fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and tiltrotors...
and functions differently from a rotorcraft
Rotorcraft
A rotorcraft or rotary wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine that uses lift generated by wings, called rotor blades, that revolve around a mast. Several rotor blades mounted to a single mast are referred to as a rotor. The International Civil Aviation Organization defines a rotorcraft...
in horizontal flight.
The term is particularly used by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
for classification purposes. Powered-lift is one of the seven categories of aircraft designated by the Federal Aviation Administration; the other six being Airplane, Rotorcraft, Glider, Lighter-Than-Air, Powered parachute, and Weight-shift-control.
The first powered-lift ratings to be issued by the FAA on a civilian pilot certificate were on 21 August 1997, to pilots of Bell Helicopter and Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
, and of the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
.
Compound rotorcraft
A compound rotorcraft has both a lifting rotor and fixed wings (although in the USA, the term "compound rotorcraft" officially refers to a mixed powerplant system).Some types have a ducted rotor design, in which the rotor is surrounded by a large ring-shaped duct to reduce tip losses. The Ryan
Ryan Aeronautical Company
The Ryan Aeronautical Company was founded by T. Claude Ryan in San Diego, California in 1934. Part of Teledyne after 1969, Northrop Grumman purchased Teledyne Ryan in 1999...
XV-5 Vertifan had non-tilt rotors in the wings.
Typically, the rotor swings forward to act as a propeller
Propeller (aircraft)
Aircraft propellers or airscrews convert rotary motion from piston engines or turboprops to provide propulsive force. They may be fixed or variable pitch. Early aircraft propellers were carved by hand from solid or laminated wood with later propellers being constructed from metal...
in forward flight. The difference between a ducted rotor and a ducted fan
Ducted fan
A ducted fan is a propulsion arrangement whereby a fan, which is a type of propeller, is mounted within a cylindrical shroud or duct. The duct reduces losses in thrust from the tip vortices of the fan, and varying the cross-section of the duct allows the designer to advantageously affect the...
design is that when the rotor is stationary you can see through the rotor disc.
Tiltrotor
Thrust
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's second and third laws. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction on that system....
. For vertical flight, the rotors are angled to provide thrust upwards, lifting the way a helicopter rotor
Helicopter rotor
A helicopter main rotor or rotor system is a type of fan that is used to generate both the aerodynamic lift force that supports the weight of the helicopter, and thrust which counteracts aerodynamic drag in forward flight...
does. As the aircraft gains speed, the rotors progressively rotate or tilt forward, with the rotors eventually becoming perpendicular
Perpendicular
In geometry, two lines or planes are considered perpendicular to each other if they form congruent adjacent angles . The term may be used as a noun or adjective...
to the fuselage of the aircraft, similar to a propeller. In this mode, the wing provides the lift and the rotor provides thrust. The wing's greater efficiency helps the tiltrotor achieve higher speeds than helicopters.
The V-22 Osprey
V-22 Osprey
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing , and short takeoff and landing capability...
by Bell Helicopter/Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
, a twin-engine tiltrotor
Tiltrotor
A tiltrotor is an aircraft which uses a pair or more of powered rotors mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles at the end of a fixed wing for lift and propulsion, and combines the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft...
design that has two turbine-powered engines driving three-bladed rotors. The rotors function similar to a helicopter in vertical flight, and similar to an airplane in forward flight. The aircraft first flew on 19 March 1989.
The Bell/Agusta BA609
Bell/Agusta BA609
The AgustaWestland AW609, formerly the Bell/Agusta BA609, is a civil twin-engined tiltrotor VTOL aircraft with a configuration similar to the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey.-Design and development:...
tiltrotor is the evolution of Bell Helicopter's V-22 Osprey
V-22 Osprey
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing , and short takeoff and landing capability...
into a civilian aircraft. The aircraft can take off and land vertically with 2 crew and 9 passengers, and within 20 seconds, transition to forward flight (by tilting its rotor blades into a fully forward position, much like the V-22 Osprey
V-22 Osprey
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing , and short takeoff and landing capability...
). In forward flight it can cruise at speeds of up to 275 knots (539 km/h), with a range exceeding 1,000 nautical miles (with long-range fuel tanks). It is rated to fly above FL210 (21,000 ft), has a maximum payload capacity of over 5,500 pounds, thanks to two Pratt and Whitney PT6C-67A turbines rated at 1,940 shp, each driving a 26 feet (8 m) diameter 3-bladed rotor blade. The aircraft is not yet in full production; however, over 80 orders have been taken.
Tiltwing
The Vertol VZ-2Vertol VZ-2
|-See also:...
was a research aircraft developed in the late 1950s. Unlike other tiltwing
Tiltwing
A tiltwing aircraft features a wing that is horizontal for conventional forward flight and rotates up for vertical takeoff and landing. It is similar to the tiltrotor design where only the propeller and engine rotate. Tiltwing aircraft are typically fully capable of VTOL operations.The tiltwing...
aircraft, Vertol designed the VZ-2 using rotors in place of propellers. On 23 July 1958, the aircraft made its first full transition from vertical flight to horizontal flight. By the time the aircraft was retired in 1965, the VZ-2 had accomplished 450 flights, including 34 full transitions.
Helicopter-airship compounds
Piasecki Helicopter developed the Piasecki PA-97Piasecki PA-97
- External links :* * - All The World's Rotorcraft*...
Helistat using the rotor systems from four obsolete helicopters and a surplus Navy blimp, in order to provide a capability to lift heavier loads than a single helicopter could provide. The aircraft suffered a fatal accident during a test flight. In 2008, Boeing and SkyHook International resurrected the concept and announced a proposed design of the SkyHook JHL-40
SkyHook JHL-40
-External links:*...
.
Other rotorcraft hybrids
Some aircraft take off vertically as a rotorcraft. The rotor then transitions to an alternative lifting mode for horizontal flight.Triebflugel
The Focke-Wulf Fw TriebflügelFocke-Wulf Fw Triebflugel
-External links:* * * *...
was a design by Nazi Germany to utilize pulsejets to power a rotor that rotated about the fuselage axis behind the cockpit. Similar to a coleopter
Coleopter
A coleopter is a type of Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft design that uses a ducted fan as the primary fuselage of the entire aircraft. Generally they appear to be a large barrel-like extension at the rear, with a small cockpit area suspended above it. Like most ducted fan designs, coleopters...
aircraft, the Triebflügel took off and landed on its tail and then rotated forward on the pitch axis after takeoff and acceleration for forward flight. The design was never been built beyond model wind tunnel testing, due to Allied bombing of the development facilities.
X-wing
The Sikorsky X-Wing had a rotor utilizing compressed air to control lift over the surfaces while operating as a helicopter. At higher forward speeds, the rotor would be stopped to continue providing lift as tandem wingTandem wing
thumb|right|QAC Quickie Q2A tandem wing aircraft usually involves two full-sized wings, both of which are full airfoils. Sometimes an aircraft of this configuration can look like a variation on the biplane, but is in fact very different. The forward wing is often technically a canard, fitted with...
s in an X configuration. The program was canceled before the aircraft had attempted any flights with the rotor system.
Tail-sitters
The SNECMA ColéoptèreSNECMA Coléoptère
The SNECMA Coléoptère was a VTO aircraft developed by the French in the 1950s. It was a single-person aircraft with an annular wing designed to land vertically, therefore requiring no runway and very little space to take-off. There were several prototypes developed and tested, however the design...
featured an annular wing. The whole aircraft points vertically for takeoff and, in theory, then tilts horizontally for forward flight. The transition to forward flight has never been achieved.
Vectored thrust
The Harrier Jump JetHarrier Jump Jet
The Harrier, informally referred to as the Jump Jet, is a family of British-designed military jet aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations...
covers a series of a military VSTOL jet
Turbofan
The turbofan is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used for aircraft propulsion. A turbofan combines two types of engines, the turbo portion which is a conventional gas turbine engine, and the fan, a propeller-like ducted fan...
aircraft. It is capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL
V/STOL
Vertical and/or short take-off and landing is a term used to describe aircraft that are able to take-off or land vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing describes craft which do not require runways at all...
) and is the only truly successful design of this type from the many that arose in the 1960s. These aircraft are capable of operating from small spaces,such as fields, roads, and aviation-capable ships.
The F-35 Lightning II
F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...
version B is proposed as the next military VSTOL in order to replace the Harrier.
Examples
- Harrier Jump JetHarrier Jump JetThe Harrier, informally referred to as the Jump Jet, is a family of British-designed military jet aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations...
- V-22 OspreyV-22 OspreyThe Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing , and short takeoff and landing capability...
- Canadair CL-84Canadair CL-84The Canadair CL-84 "Dynavert", designated by the Canadian Forces as the CX-131, was a V/STOL turbine tilt-wing monoplane designed and manufactured by Canadair between 1964 and 1972. Only four of these experimental aircraft were built with three entering flight testing...
- F-35B Lightning II
- Sikorsky S-72Sikorsky S-72|-See also:-External links:* * *...
- Vertol VZ-2Vertol VZ-2|-See also:...
- Bell XV-3Bell XV-3|-See also:- References :NotesBibliography*Markman, Steve, and William G. Holder. Straight Up: A History of Vertical Flight. Schiffer military/aviation history. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2000....
- LTV XC-142
- Bell XV-15Bell XV-15The Bell XV-15 was an American tiltrotor VTOL aircraft. It was the second successful experimental tiltrotor aircraft and the first to demonstrate the concept's high speed performance relative to conventional helicopters.-Early VTOL rotor aircraft:...
- Bell/Agusta BA609Bell/Agusta BA609The AgustaWestland AW609, formerly the Bell/Agusta BA609, is a civil twin-engined tiltrotor VTOL aircraft with a configuration similar to the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey.-Design and development:...
- Bell Eagle EyeBell Eagle Eye-References:* This article contains material that originally came from the web article by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain.-External links:** * ....
- Moller Skycar