초록 ▼

An airfoil used in a ruddevator assembly for controlling movement of an aircraft refueling boom, where there are two airfoils (i.e. ruddevators) mounted to the boom, each at a dihedral angle of about 42°. Each airfoil has an outboard section, which is an advanced technology cambered airfoil for high

An airfoil used in a ruddevator assembly for controlling movement of an aircraft refueling boom, where there are two airfoils (i.e. ruddevators) mounted to the boom, each at a dihedral angle of about 42°. Each airfoil has an outboard section, which is an advanced technology cambered airfoil for high lift at transonic speeds, with a raked wing tip. The inboard portion of the airfoil has a forwardly extending strake-like member having a sharp leading edge which in planform comprises three sections. There is a curved forward edge section and two rearwardly extending edge sections, which in operation are positioned at high sweep angles. The side edge portions of the strake-like member create vortices which travel over the inboard portion of the airfoil to augment lift over a wide range of surface deflection of the airfoil (i.e., angle of attack). The inboard vortex also smooths the flow over the boom housing, and another aerodynamic feature is that the hinge moments exerted on the airfoil are relatively linear over a wide range of deflection, thus enhancing the control characteristics of the ruddevator assembly.

대표청구항 ▼

An airfoil assembly, comprising: a. a body member, b. a pair of airfoils on opposite sides of said body member, each airfoil having a spanwise axis and a chordwise axis, each airfoil comprising: 1. a first section at a first outboard spanwise location, having an airfoil configuration with a leading

An airfoil assembly, comprising: a. a body member, b. a pair of airfoils on opposite sides of said body member, each airfoil having a spanwise axis and a chordwise axis, each airfoil comprising: 1. a first section at a first outboard spanwise location, having an airfoil configuration with a leading edge shaped to cause attached flow over said first section to create a lifting force caused by airflow over said first section; 2. a second section at a second inboard spanwise location, having an airfoil configuration to create a lifting force caused by airflow over said second section; 3. said second section having a forwardly extending strake-like member mounted to a forward portion of the second section at a location proximate said body, and having spanwise and chordwise axes generally aligned with the axes of the airfoil; 4. said strake-like member having a leading edge comprising: (i) a first forward edge portion; (ii) a second lateral edge portion extending from the forward edge portion to the leading edge of the first section, said second lateral edge portion having a sufficiently small cross-sectional radius of curvature and having a sweep angle sufficient to create a single discrete vortex of air passing over said second lateral edge portion, through a range from a very low angle of attack to a very high angle of attack; (iii) a third lateral edge portion extending rearwardly from the first forward edge portion proximate said body member, said third lateral edge portion having a sufficiently small cross-sectional radius of curvature and having a sweep angle sufficient to create a single discrete vortex of air passing adjacent said body member and over said third lateral edge portion, through a range from a very low angle of attack to a very high angle of attack.