Turbofan-powered stol aircraft

Claim 2

A turbofan-powered STOL aircraft including in combination, a fuselage, a wing on said fuselage, said wing having leading and trailing edges and contoured upper and lower surfaces, at least one turbofan engine on said wing, said engine having discharge openings defining a fan exit and a primary exit for efflux from fan and turbine sections of said engine, said engine being positioned forwardly and downwardly on said wing whereby efflux from said primary exit passes under said wing and efflux from said fan exit passes proportionately in part over and in part under said wing, said fan efflux passing under said wing forming a heat shield between said efflux from said primary exit and the lower surface of said wing.

Claim 3

A turbofan-powered STOL aircraft as set forth in claim 1 wherein said fan exit is positioned ahead of said wing leading edge and the primary exit is within the forward 25 percent of a wing chord measured iN the vertical plane of the centerline of said engine.

Claim 4

A turbofan-powered STOL aircraft as set forth in claim 1 wherein said wing has a leading edge flap to regulate the proportion of fan exit efflux flowing over and under said wing.

Claim 5

A turbofan-powered STOL aircraft as set forth in claim 1 wherein said wing has a main flap, flap vane and an auxiliary flap, said main flap being pivotally movable downwardly and angularly relative to and spaced from the rear of said wing to a deflection position to deflect fan exit and primary exit efflux from said engine downwardly and rearwardly, said flap vane being interconnected with said main flap for relative movement therewith to move into a position within the space between said rear of said wing and said main flap in said deflection position, said flap vane forming slots with said main flap and said rear of said wing and maintaining fan efflux flow over and in close proximity to said wing, flap vane and main flap.

Claim 6

A turbofan-powered STOL aircraft as in claim 1 wherein said wing has a main flap with an auxiliary flap pivotally connected therewith, means for moving said main flap rearwardly and downwardly from said wing and into the path of the rearward flow of efflux from said fan exit and primary exit to thereby deflect said efflux downwardly to generate propulsive lift.

Claim 7

A turbofan-powered STOL aircraft as in claim 1 wherein said wing has a main flap with an auxiliary flap pivotally connected therewith, means for moving said main flap and said auxiliary flap rearwardly and downwardly from said wing and into the path of the rearward flow of efflux from said primary exit, and means for moving said auxiliary flap relative to said main flap to regulate drag caused thereby without a substantial change in thrust to thereby control the glide path of said aircraft in landing.

Claim 8

A turbofan-powered STOL aircraft including in combination, a fuselage, a wing on said fuselage, said wing having leading and trailing edges and contoured upper and lower surfaces, at least one turbofan engine on said wing, said engine having discharge openings defining a fan exit and a primary exit for efflux from fan and turbine sections of said engine, said engine being positioned forwardly and downwardly on said wing, the centerline of said engine being within 55 percent of the semispan of said aircraft, said primary exit being within the forward 25 percent of a wing chord measured in the vertical plane of the centerline of said engine, said fan exit being positioned ahead of said wing leading edge in order that efflux from said primary exit passes under said wing and efflux from said fan exit passes proportionately in part over and in part under said wing, said fan efflux passing under said wing forming a heat shield between said efflux from said primary exit and the lower surface of said wing.

Claim 9

A turbofan-powered STOL aircraft including in combination, a fuselage, a wing on said fuselage, said wing having leading and trailing edges and contoured upper and lower surfaces, at least one turbofan engine on said wing, said engine having discharge openings defining a fan exit and a primary exit for efflux from fan and turbine sections of said engine, said engine being positioned forwardly and downwardly on said wing, the centerline of said engine being within 55 percent of the semispan of said aircraft, said primary exit being within the forward 25 percent of a wing chord measured in the vertical plane of the centerline of said engine, said fan exit being positioned ahead of said wing leading edge in order that efflux from said primary exit passes under said wing and efflux from said fan exit passes proportionately in part over and in part under said wing, said fan efflux passing under said wing forming a heat shield between said efflux from said primary exit and the lower surface of said wing.

Claim 10

A turbofan-powered STOL aircraft including in combination, a fuselage, a wing on said fuselage, said wing having leading and trailing edges and contoured upper and lower surfaces, at least one turbofan engine on said wing, said engine having discharge openings defining a fan exit and an annular primary exit for efflux from fan and turbine sections of said engine, said engine being positioned forwardly and downwardly on said wing whereby said primary exit is within the forward 25 percent of a wing chord measured in the vertical plane of the centerline of said engine and within 1 1/2 primary exit diameters from said lower surface of said wing, said fan exit being positioned ahead of said wing leaidng edge in order that efflux from said primary exit passes under said wing and efflux from said fan exit passes proportionately in part over and in part under said wing, saifan efflux passing under said wing forming a heat shield between said efflux from said primary exit and the lower surface of said wing.

Claim 11

A turbofan-powered STOL aircraft including in combination, a fuselage, a wing on said fuselage, said wing having leading and trailing edges and contoured upper and lower surfaces, at least one turbofan engine on said wing, said engine having discharge openings defining a fan exit and an annular primary exit for efflux from fan and turbine sections of said engine, said engine being positioned forwardly and downwardly on said wing whereby said primary exit is within the forward 25 percent of a wing chord measured in the vertical plane of the centerline of said engine and within 1 1/2 primary exit diameters from said lower surface of said wing, said fan exit being positioned ahead of said wing leaidng edge in order that efflux from said primary exit passes under said wing and efflux from said fan exit passes proportionately in part over and in part under said wing, saifan efflux passing under said wing forming a heat shield between said efflux from said primary exit and the lower surface of said wing.

Claim 12

In an aircraft: a wing having leading and trailing edges and Contoured upper and lower surfaces; and a turbofan reaction engine carried by said wing, said engine having discharge openings for efflux from fan and turbine sections of said engine, said openings haivng annular edges lying in first and second longitudinally spaced substantially parallel planes, said first plane including said discharge opening from said turbine section and said second plane including said discharge opening from said fan section, said second plane being positioned in forward spaced relatiionship to said leading edge of said wing, said first plane intersecting said wing within a forward 25 percent of a chord thereof in the vertical plane of the centerline of said engine, said leading edge of said wing being located in said efflux from said fan section whereby gaseous flow therefrom is delivered over said upper and lower wing surfaces.

Claim 13

In an aircraft: a wing having leading and trailing edges and Contoured upper and lower surfaces; and a turbofan reaction engine carried by said wing, said engine having discharge openings for efflux from fan and turbine sections of said engine, said openings haivng annular edges lying in first and second longitudinally spaced substantially parallel planes, said first plane including said discharge opening from said turbine section and said second plane including said discharge opening from said fan section, said second plane being positioned in forward spaced relatiionship to said leading edge of said wing, said first plane intersecting said wing within a forward 25 percent of a chord thereof in the vertical plane of the centerline of said engine, said leading edge of said wing being located in said efflux from said fan section whereby gaseous flow therefrom is delivered over said upper and lower wing surfaces.

Claim 14

In an aircraft, the combination as set forth in claim 9 wherein said leading edge has a movable flap for varying the proprotion of flow from said fan discharge opening over said upper and lower wing surfaces.

Claim 15

In an aircraft, the combination as set forth in claim 9 wherein said fan section has means therein for directing a portion of said efflux therefrom downwardly.