An aircraft includes an airframe; an extending tail; a counter rotating, coaxial main rotor assembly including an upper rotor assembly and a lower rotor assembly; a translational thrust system positioned at the extending tail, the translational thrust system providing translational thrust to the airframe; an upper hub fairing positioned at the upper rotor assembly; a lower hub fairing positioned at the lower rotor assembly; and a shaft fairing disposed between the upper hub fairing and the lower hub fairing; wherein a geometry of at least one of the upper hub fairing and the lower hub fairing progressively blends from a circle to a series of curved elliptical surfaces in an inboard direction.

An aircraft includes an airframe; an extending tail; a counter rotating, coaxial main rotor assembly including an upper rotor assembly and a lower rotor assembly; a translational thrust system positioned at the extending tail, the translational thrust system providing translational thrust to the airframe; an upper hub fairing positioned at the upper rotor assembly; a lower hub fairing positioned at the lower rotor assembly; and a shaft fairing disposed between the upper hub fairing and the lower hub fairing; wherein a geometry of at least one of the upper hub fairing and the lower hub fairing progressively blends from a circle to a series of curved elliptical surfaces in an inboard direction.

Methods and apparatus to control a gap between movable aircraft wing components are disclosed. An example apparatus includes spoiler including a first panel and a second panel, a flexible tip extending from an intersection of the first and second panels; and a rub block coupled to a surface of the second panel, the rub block positioned to engage a flap to maintain a distance between the spoiler and the flap and to enable the flexible tip to perform deform to change aerodynamic properties of the spoiler.

The present disclosure relates to a sealing device and an associated flight control surface mechanism and an associated aircraft. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a sealing device (100, 100′) for a flight control surface mechanism (10) of an aircraft (1) is provided, the flight control surface mechanism includes a fixed part (20) and a movable wing surface (40), the movable wing surface is attached to the fixed part in a manner of being movable relative to the fixed part. The sealing device includes a fixed seal (120) attached to the fixed part and a movable seal (140, 140′) attached to the movable wing surface so as to move with the movement of the movable wing surface, the movable seal and the fixed seal cooperate with each other in order to provide an aerodynamic sealing for the flight control surface mechanism.

A load-bearing fairing element for a flap adjustment mechanism of an aircraft comprises a shell-shaped fairing housing with an at least partly U-shaped profile with an open side, a closed side, and a direction of main extension, at least one first cover panel that along the direction of main extension covers part of the open side, and a load-bearing bridge element. The bridge element is arranged in the fairing housing and with a base area conforms so as to be flush against an internal surface of the fairing housing and extends towards the open side. The bridge element comprises an essentially planar cover area that covers the base area on the open side in order to produce a closed profile contour that is circumferential on the direction of main extension. The bridge element comprises means for holding a shaft feed-in of a central flap drive and means for holding an adjustment mechanism that is couplable to the shaft feed-in. Consequently there is no need to provide complex stiffening structures within the fairing element.

A seal assembly for closing an aperture in an aerodynamic surface of a structure, the seal assembly comprising: a track for attachment to the structure; and a retractable seal including a flexible substrate and a plurality of rods connected to the substrate, wherein at least one of the rods is mounted for running movement along the track, and the seal is moveable between an extended position and a retracted position by moving the at least one rod along the track accompanied by folding/unfolding of the seal substrate, and wherein the seal is biased to its extended position.

A seal assembly for closing an aperture in an aerodynamic surface of a structure, the seal assembly comprising: a track for attachment to the structure; and a retractable seal including a flexible substrate and a plurality of rods connected to the substrate, wherein at least one of the rods is mounted for running movement along the track, and the seal is moveable between an extended position and a retracted position by moving the at least one rod along the track accompanied by folding/unfolding of the seal substrate, and wherein the seal is biased to its extended position.

A rotor assembly for use in an aircraft comprising has a rotor hub, a spinner structure comprising a spinner opening, and a rotor blade received through the spinner opening. The rotor blade has a rotor root located proximate to the rotor hub. The rotor assembly also has a motive fairing face that at least partially rests along the rotor hub.

Cable retainer apparatuses for retaining a cable, and aircraft and methods including such apparatuses are provided. In one example, a cable retainer for retaining a cable proximate a surface of an aircraft includes a cable retainer. The cable retainer is configured to retain the cable. A fairing is disposed about the cable retainer and is configured to couple to the aircraft to support the cable retainer adjacent to the surface of the aircraft.

A method of securing a lower trailing edge panel of an aircraft wing. The wing includes a wingbox with an upper cover, a lower cover, and a rear spar. A leading edge of the lower trailing edge panel is attached to the wingbox. A support structure is also attached to the wingbox and a connector is mounted to the trailing edge panel. A link is provided, with a first end and a second end. The second end of the link is pivotally attached to the support structure at a pivot joint. A biasing arrangement biases the link towards an upright orientation in which the first end of the link is higher than the pivot joint. The link is held in its upright orientation with the biasing arrangement; and then the first end of the link is attached to the connector.