Tiltplane- a new VTOL flying craft

This dramatic VTOL aircraft offers promising improvements in speed and maneuverability for manned and unmanned craft. Designed by John M. Lawrence, this unique design was recently presented at the AHS Specialist' Meeting on Aeromechanics January 20, 2010. For more information visit our website: www.tiltplane.com

Video by: Andres Canella
Production Director Phantom Mouse
Guatemala City, Guatemala. andres@phantommouse.com
www.phantommouse.com

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• VTOL aircraft
• twin rotor plane
• vertical takeoff and landing
• speed and maneuverability
• twin-rotor
• John Lawrence
• robotic aircraft
• helicopter
• new helicopter design
• tiltplane
• tilt plane
• vertical take off helicopter
• UAV
• Unmanned
• Aerial
• Vehicle'

[jakemrcool]

how does this thing gain lift in forward flight it has no wings. you have to have lift to over come gravity. once it rotates the rotor blades no longer create lift they pull it forward.

[jlawren3]

Did you know that at some airshows helicopters do barrel rolls? Tiltplanes will easily be as maneuverable as most helicopters.

Where did I claim instant direction changes for tiltplanes? I am not aware that I ever claimed that.

I do claim that tiltplanes can easily have cruising speeds which are two times or even three times the cruising speed of most helicopters.

[jlawren3]

I wrote: “The craft takes off vertically, flies nose-high as it develops horizontal flight speed, and gradually noses over into horizontal flight.” In that text, at least, I am not speaking of abrupt direction changes. If you search on "Helicopter barrel rolls" you can see some amazing stuff. One should expect that tiltplanes will be more maneuverable than helicopters because the hub diameter of tiltplanes are quite large - permitting large moments to easily be applied to tiltplane rotors.



[9493760]

THE IDEA IS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE, BUT I THINK YOUR CLAIMS OF INSTANT CORRECTION, AND DIRECTIONAL CHANGE TO BE OVER SIMPLIFIED, DUE TO THE REQUIREMENTS IT TAKES A TWIN ROTOR DESIGN LIKE THIS, TO ACTUALLY PERFORM SUCH SENSITIVE

[jlawren3]

I am a retired engineer. I graduated from Webb Institute, on a full scholarship as are all Webb students, in 1964. I worked professionally as an engineer until 2 years ago when I retired. I paid Ray Prouty, a well know aeronautical engineering consultant, to review and analyze the tiltplane concept and I have programs in BASIC which he wrote which can be used to analyze the craft's performance.

The two-passenger craft I show is unrealistic for various reasons, but robotic craft should be fine.

[TIgor79]

Good graphics, but bad idea !

You have no idea that you speak about,

not in aerodynamics aspects,

nor in mechanical.

[jlawren3]

That is a good question. I am confident that, when cruising, if it puts its nose down a bit it can glide with its rotors turning on a down slope with no power. When hovering at a reasonable altitude it should be able, when settling, to use its altitude to spin its rotors and, as it approaches the ground, convert the energy of the rotating rotors to a lift impulse to cushion the landing, as can a helicopter. Like helicopters tiltplanes will need to avoid the dangerous speed/height regions.

[elwood173]

What kind of failure modes would you have in case of an emergency like loss of power, can it auto rotate?

[jlawren3]

I am not close to manufacturing units; I haven't yet made any wind tunnel test models. But I do have computer programs which seem to be very good and which I can use to analyze the craft's performance in hover, transition, and cruise. I am hoping to receive government funding to build models and run wind tunnel tests at a reputable university.

I expect that the cost of tiltplanes will be comparable to the cost of high performance helicopters with similar takeoff weights - which are not cheap.

[LanceWinslow5]

One the manufacturing process begins what price point can you deliver each unit? How large are your current prototypes? Model size I am presuming? What speed have you attained?