초록 ▼

A superagile tactical fighter aircraft and a method of flying it are disclosed. The superagile aircraft is characterized by articulatable air inlets, articulatable exhaust nozzles, highly deflectable canard surfaces, and control thruster jets located around the nose of the fuselage, on the top and b

A superagile tactical fighter aircraft and a method of flying it are disclosed. The superagile aircraft is characterized by articulatable air inlets, articulatable exhaust nozzles, highly deflectable canard surfaces, and control thruster jets located around the nose of the fuselage, on the top and bottom surfaces of the propulsion system near the exhaust nozzles, and on both sides of at least one vertical tail. The method of operating the superagile aircraft comprises the step of articulating the air inlets and exhaust nozzles, deflecting the canard surfaces, and vectoring the thruster jets so that supernormal flight is attained. Supernormal flight may be defined as flight at which the superagile aircraft operates at an angle of attack much greater than the angle of attack which produces maximum lift. In supernormal flight, the superagile aircraft is capable of almost vertical ascents, sharp turns, and very steep descents without losing control. Enhanced survivability of the pilot and the aircraft is achieved by the invention.

대표청구항 ▼

A superagile tactical fighter aircraft comprising: a fuselage having a nose, a midsection, an aft section and at least one vertical tail, said fuselage adapted to house a human pilot, a payload, fuel, automatic flight control systems, a navigation system, and a life support system to assist and sust

A superagile tactical fighter aircraft comprising: a fuselage having a nose, a midsection, an aft section and at least one vertical tail, said fuselage adapted to house a human pilot, a payload, fuel, automatic flight control systems, a navigation system, and a life support system to assist and sustain the pilot; fixed wings mounted on the aft section of the fuselage, behind a center-of-gravity of the aircraft; a high thrust-to-weight propulsion system being mounted to the wings; fully articulating air inlets at a front end of the propulsion system, said air inlets being deflectable so as to face into a local air stream so as to provide minimally distorted air flow to the propulsion system throughout a complete flight regime but particularly at very high angles of attack and low air speeds; fully articulating exhaust nozzles at a rear end of the propulsion system, said exhaust nozzles being rapidly deflectable so as to allow the pilot the capability to vector and direct gross thrust produced by the propulsion system; and rotatable canard surface means, mounted on the midsection on the fuselage in front of the center-of-gravity and separate from the wings, for fully and rapidly deflecting air flow thereacross in an angle-of-attack range with trailing edge about 90°up to trailing edge about 45°down, said canard surface means being located so as to provide pitch control forces and moments and to cause the aircraft to be longitudinally unstable and capable of trimming at very high angles of attack approaching the range from 70°to 90°.