Vertical stabilizer

Abstract: It works like a helicopter in vertical flight or like an airplane in horizontal flight, being able to land accurately on a small area. It is equipped with a rotor, a couple of wings fitted with ailerons and other control surfaces actuated differentially, with support wheels at their ends. It has a vertical stabilizer at the end of which there is a wheel. It has a horizontal stabilizer with elevators that are actuated simultaneously or differentially. It incorporates a propeller ahead of the rotor.

Abstract: A controller for reducing unwanted sideways motion of an aircraft by reducing lateral side loads, resulting from air mass, turbulence and gusts. The controller functions in a manner that in the presence of higher frequency side loads, the rudder is caused to move in a relieving direction so that the net force across the vertical stabilizer is zero. A pressure differential across opposite sides of the vertical stabilizer is measured and used to generate a first rudder deflection signal. To maintain stability of the aircraft, a beta-dot signal from the yaw damper module is gain adjusted and filtered to generate a second rudder deflection signal which is added to the first rudder deflection signal. The resulting combined signal reduces lateral side loads at higher frequencies without comprising aircraft directional stability.

Abstract: The development of a structural finite element model for the generic aircraft configuration named FERMAT is presented. The geometry of the FERMAT configuration is based on the NASA Common Research Model (CRM). The CRM is a wing/body/nacelle/pylon/horizontal-tail configuration was originally developed for the the AIAA 4th Drag Prediction Workshop in 2009. It is based on a long-range, wide-body transonic transport. As far as the CRM is missing the vertical stabilizer as well as other well as the definition of overall aircraft characteristics, they are defined for the FERMAT configuration. For the development of the structural model a parametric modeling approach is applied, using methods from Computer Aided Geometric Design (CAGD). A design process is established, comprising the parametric modeling part, loads analysis, and the sizing of the structure considering structural and aeroelastic constraints. The parametric approach enables a wide range of variations while the the structural model for the wing-like components is as detailed as possible. The parametric design loop has three basic sequential steps. It starts with the set-up of parameterized simulation models (e.g. finite element model, aerodynamic model, mass models, and optimization model) for the given target flight shape. It follows an aeroelastic loads analysis using the condensed structural model for selected mass cases. And finally, the structural components are sized independently using the detailed structural models, where for the wing also aileron effectiveness is defined as constraints. After adapting the jig shape of the wing, the process is repeated until the structural sizing and the jig-shape converge. The structural dynamic characteristics are presented for two mass cases. The final flutter investigation is briefly described wherein advantage was derived from the parametric approach. In order to avoid the first flutter mode to be at the horizontal stabilizer, the structural concept of the load carrying structure of the horizontal stabilizer was modified and the design process repeated.

Abstract: A jet aircraft has a generally conical front fuselage section, a cylindrical intermediate fuselage section defining a passenger compartment, a generally conical aft fuselage section, and a single vertical stabilizer. The aircraft's propulsion engines are mounted on pylons on the conical aft fuselage section with the air inlets thereof disposed entirely within a rearward projection of the lateral cross section of the intermediate fuselage section thereby to preclude the ingestion of foreign objects into the engines while minimizing the effect of boundary layer airflow. The exhaust nozzles extend rearwardly past the vertical stabilizer to minimize side line noise.