Conceptual Design Studies of a Mono Tiltrotor (MTR) Architecture

Abstract

The Mono Tiltrotor (MTR) is a proposed, innovative heavy-lift rotorcraft architecture. The emerging military strategies most suited to potential application of the MTR are Navy Sea Basing with Ship to Objective Maneuver, and Army Future Combat Systems with mounted maneuver and air mobility. The present work reports on a conceptual design study that has been conducted to predict the sizes and weights of the MTR architecture and to objectively examine its potential performance. A detailed weight budget has been determined based on historical component data for helicopters and airplanes. A thorough component drag breakdown has allowed for good estimates of the overall lift-to-drag ratio of the MTR concept in both the helicopter mode and airplane cruise conditions. A requirement was that the machine carry its payload over an unprecedented unrefueled distance of 1,000 nautical miles. It is shown that if technically realizable, the MTR architecture allows for a relatively compact and lightweight rotor design, with an accompanying lightweight airframe and relatively low fuel load compared to competing helicopter concepts.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 10, 2004
Accession Number
ADA428702

Entities

People

  • G. D. Baldwin
  • J. G. Leishman
  • Robin Preator

Organizations

  • University of Maryland

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerodynamic Configurations
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Airplanes
  • Boundary Layer
  • Control Systems
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fuel Systems
  • Helicopters
  • High Lift Devices
  • Horizontal Stabilizers
  • Rotary Wing Aircraft
  • Short Takeoff Aircraft
  • Tilt Rotor Aircraft

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design