32
Inventor
Chief researcher Myeong-gyu LEE
Department
Flight systems
Registration (Filing) No.
• US : 8544787
Title
• HIGH PERFORMANCE TILT ROTOR AIRCRAFT
IN WHICH NACELLE TILT ANGLE AND FLAPER-
ON ANGLE MECHANICALLy INTERWORK WITH
EACH OTHER
02
Korea Aerospace Research Institute Promising Technologies for Commercialization
Outline of Technology
TLO of the KARI
Person-in-charge
Senior Administrator Moon-Hee, Cho
E-mail : moonyxp@kari.re.kr
R&D Performance Diffusion Division
High performance tilt
rotor aircraft in which
a nacelle tilt angle
and a flaperon angle
mechanically interwork
with each other
In a tilt rotor aircraft, a nacelle and a flaperon are
mechanically connected by a power transmission
mechanism such as a linkage system, and therefore
the flaperon moves in connection with changes of a
nacelle angle.
The present invention is designed to provide a
result in which a lift-to-drag ratio of a flying vehicle
increases as an aspect ratio of wings increases so
that endurance performance is improved, and also
to complement and improve a concept of mounting
an extension wing which has previously invented
(Korean Patent Document No. 10-0822366).
< Helicopter Mode >
< Conversion Mode >
< Airplane Mode >
33
production of confirmed parts/system and prototype
Technical Readiness Level
TRL 1
TRL 2
TRL 3
TRL 5
TRL 6
TRL 7
TRL 8
TRL 9
TRL 4
Distinctiveness
• A separate flaperon operator is not required, and therefore the flaperon can be alternatively
used to adjust an angle of the extension wing so that an auxiliary angle of the extension wing is
independently adjusted from the nacelle angle depending on a flight mode.
Technical effects
• In the aspect of the flying vehicle as a whole, the present invention is directed to providing a tilt
rotor aircraft in which an endurance time and a flight distance are improved without an increase
in the number of separate driving operators.
• A downward load acting on an auxiliary wing by propeller wash of a rotor is minimized through
relative adjustment of the auxiliary wing so that performance degradation may be prevented in a
rotary wing flight mode, and a drag acting on the extension wing may be reduced in forward flight
of the rotary wing flight mode and a transition flight mode. In addition, in a fixed wing flight
mode, the endurance time and the flight distance can be largely improved.
Technical features and advantages
< Design of Extended Wing and
Supporting Structures >
< Life to Drag Ratio
(Baseline vs Extended Wing Model) >
34
02
Technical detail
Market and future prospect
High performance
tilt rotor aircraft
in which a nacelle
tilt angle and a
flaperon angle
mechanically
interwork with
each other
In order to confirm effects of performance improved by
mounting an extended wing, a computational flow analysis is
conducted for the entire body of a TR60 basic model and an
extended wing-mounted model, and endurance time and a lift-
to-drag ratio increased about 68% in the results.
The global commercial UAV market is expected to reach
$2.07 billion by 2022, according to a new study by Grand
View Research Inc.
TR60
TR100
Body length
3m
5m
Maximum speed
250km/h
500km/h
Endurance time
6 hours
5 hours
Weight on board
30 kg
40~100 kg
Maximum weight
200 kg
1,000 kg
In view of the size of the market, it is expected that high
performance tilt rotor unmanned aerial vehicles could conquer
a global UAV market which is a blue ocean.
<Performances and Physical Properties of TR60 & TR100>
2012
200.00
400.00
600.00
800.00
1.000.00
1.200.00
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
A griculture
Energy
Government
Media&Entertainment
Others
35
Market and future prospect
Applications
• When a tilt rotor unmanned aerial vehicle is operated on a battleship, real-time surveillance by
navy or maritime police is improved.
• When an automatic aviation technique of a tilt rotor UAV is applied to a compact trigger aircraft,
a personal air vehicle (PAV) which automatically lands on a helipad of a destination based on a
destination which is input into the PAV on a helipad of an apartment rooftop can be developed.
• The PAV automatically flies on a sky highway so that it can be flown to a destination with the
driving skill of an automobile driving license.
The endurance performance is affected by various factors besides a lift-to-drag ratio. In the purpose
of substantial comparison of endurance performance, as a result of measuring engine power
through a flight test and comparing fuel consumption of two models through a static test, fuel
reduction of about 30% is shown when an extended wing is mounted, and thereby the improvement
of endurance performance of the extended wing was indirectly confirmed from this result.
<Flight Test of Extended Wing Model>
