A propulsion system for an aircraft comprises at least two main gas turbine engines and a plurality of dedicated boundary layer ingestion fans. An aircraft is also disclosed.

A propulsion system for an aircraft comprises at least two main gas turbine engines and a plurality of dedicated boundary layer ingestion fans. An aircraft is also disclosed.

Provided is an airflow control system for controlling airflow flowing over an upper surface of an aircraft. The airflow control system includes: a blowout port that is provided on a forward side of the upper surface of the aircraft to blow out the airflow; a suction port that is provided closer to the forward side than the blowout port to suck outside air; a fan that is provided on a rearward side of the blowout port to suck air flowing from a forward side and to discharge the air to a rearward side; and a compressor that is provided in a channel extending from the suction port to the blowout port to increase pressure of the outside air sucked from the suction port and to pressure-feed the resulting outside air to the blowout port.

Provided is an airflow control system for controlling airflow flowing over an upper surface of an aircraft. The airflow control system includes: a blowout port that is provided on a forward side of the upper surface of the aircraft to blow out the airflow; a suction port that is provided closer to the forward side than the blowout port to suck outside air; a fan that is provided on a rearward side of the blowout port to suck air flowing from a forward side and to discharge the air to a rearward side; and a compressor that is provided in a channel extending from the suction port to the blowout port to increase pressure of the outside air sucked from the suction port and to pressure-feed the resulting outside air to the blowout port.

A tiltrotor aircraft has a fuselage and a wing having upper and lower surfaces with a plurality of channels extending therebetween, each with a cycloidal rotor mounted therein. At least two pylon assemblies are rotatably coupled to the wing to selectively operate the tiltrotor aircraft between helicopter and airplane flight modes. Each pylon assembly includes a mast and a proprotor assembly operable to rotate with the mast to generate thrust. At least one engine provides torque and rotational energy to the proprotor assemblies and the propulsion assemblies. Each of the cycloidal rotors has a plurality of blades that travels in a generally circular path and has a plurality of pitch angle configurations such that each cycloidal rotor is operable to generate a variable thrust and a variable thrust vector, thereby providing vertical lift augmentation, roll control, yaw control and/or pitch control in the helicopter flight mode.

A detection device comprising a first data processing unit configured to determine a first trend of the control surface control order as a function of time, the first trend being defined according to a reference parameter, a second data processing unit configured to determine at least one second trend of the control surface position value as a function of time, the second trend being also defined according to the reference parameter, and a monitoring unit configured to compare the first and second trends in order to verify the existence of a correlation between these first and second trends so as to detect an oscillatory failure as soon as a loss of correlation between the first and second trends appears, if necessary.

An apparatus for facilitating propulsion of a vehicle. The apparatus comprises a housing with an interior space, an inlet, and an outlet, a propulsion mechanism, and a gimbal. The propulsion mechanism is disposed in the interior space and comprises and an upper rotor and a lower rotor rotatably mounted on a first portion and a second portion of a spindle. The upper rotor rotates in a first direction and the lower rotor rotates in a second direction opposite to the first direction. Upper rotor blades have a first blade pitch and lower rotor blades have a second blade pitch opposite to the first blade pitch. The rotating of the upper rotor and the lower rotor creates a fluid flow from the inlet to the outlet for generating a directional thrust. The gimbal rotatably attaches the propulsion mechanism to the housing. The housing is rotatable for vectoring the directional thrust.

An apparatus for facilitating propulsion of a vehicle. The apparatus comprises a housing with an interior space, an inlet, and an outlet, a propulsion mechanism, and a gimbal. The propulsion mechanism is disposed in the interior space and comprises and an upper rotor and a lower rotor rotatably mounted on a first portion and a second portion of a spindle. The upper rotor rotates in a first direction and the lower rotor rotates in a second direction opposite to the first direction. Upper rotor blades have a first blade pitch and lower rotor blades have a second blade pitch opposite to the first blade pitch. The rotating of the upper rotor and the lower rotor creates a fluid flow from the inlet to the outlet for generating a directional thrust. The gimbal rotatably attaches the propulsion mechanism to the housing. The housing is rotatable for vectoring the directional thrust.

A cross flow fan to be incorporated into an aircraft fuselage comprises an ingestion fan rotor to be positioned in a tail section of an aircraft fuselage to reduce boundary layer air from a top surface of the fuselage and to drive the air away from the top surface, and a drive arrangement for the ingestion fan rotor. An aircraft is also disclosed.

A fluid interface device, such as an airfoil assembly, can include a device structure and at least one moveable band oriented such that the band moves in a direction of fluid flow. The at least one moveable band can be supported on the device structure such that an outer surface of the moveable band is exposed along the device structure and is capable of movement relative thereto such that a relative velocity can be maintained between the outer surface and the device structure. The fluid interface device can have a cross section that includes first and second boundary layer collision points disposed along one side of the device structure with at least one of said first and second boundary layer collision points formed by the endless band. An airplane, a wind turbine and a method are also included.