User:Hovtol

HOVTOL: is an acronym coined by two inventors, Mr. Johnny Swinson and Mr. Terry Jack James (ref. U.S. Utility Patent 5,890,441), for a Horizontal Or Vertical Take-off Or Landing air vehicle system.

The HOVTOL is more specifically explained in the Patent Abstract as a semi autonomously directed, autonomously controlled, gyroscopically stabilized aircraft that can fly horizontally like a conventional aircraft or at the pilot’s option hover, fly, land, or take-off vertically like a helicopter without rotation of it’s propulsion system.

The invention employs two vertical lift propellers equally and longitudinally spaced inside, from the center of gravity, of the aircraft’s fuselage for vertical lift. Vertical propulsion is integrated with a drive train employing optional single or multiple engines congruously connected to fore and or aft propellers for horizontal thrust.

Stability in hover for the aircraft is effected by a combination of the gyroscopic forces of two weighted counter rotating vertical lift propellers for roll and by thrust vectoring the exhaust slip stream of the vertical lift propellers for pitch and roll stability by an autonomous flight control system.

The autonomous flight control system provides continuous flight control of the aircraft. Directional steering however, is effected by unskilled users by means of a second invention by Mr. Terry Jack James coined a “Semiautonomous Flight Director” or SFD (ref. U. S. Patent 6,460,810). The purpose of the SFD is to eliminate the nuances of flying radio controlled aircraft in beyond line-of-sight flight maneuvers.

The combined effect of the inventions are: When the power system rotates; coincident rotation of the drive train causes the vertical lift propellers and horizontal thrust propellers to counter rotate at right angles providing both vertical lift and gyroscopic roll stability while providing horizontal thrust. Continuous control is accomplished by the autonomous flight control system with directional steering, and function in three axis effected by the Semiautonomous Flight Director (SFD) allowing for unskilled or semi-skilled operation.

The two inventions were specifically conceived to address expressed requirements of various commercial, civil, and military users as well as safety and control concerns of the FAA for the application of unmanned aircraft technology in untapped commercial and civil applications and markets.