Spanwise transition section for blended wing-body aircraft

A blended wing-body aircraft includes a central body, a wing, and a transition section which interconnects the body and the wing on each side of the aircraft. The two transition sections are identical, and each has a variable chord length and thickness which varies in proportion to the chord length. This enables the transition section to connect the thin wing to the thicker body. Each transition section has a negative sweep angle

Rib for blended wing-body aircraft

Structural ribs for providing structural support for a structure, such as the pressure cabin of a blended-wing body aircraft. In a first embodiment, the ribs are generally Y-shaped, being comprised of a vertical web and a pair of inclined webs attached to the vertical web to extend upwardly and outwardly from the vertical web in different directions, with only the upper edges of the inclined webs being attached to a structural element. In a second embodiment, the ribs are generally trident-shaped, whereby the vertical web extends upwardly beyond the intersection of the inclined webs with the vertical web, with the upper edge of the vertical web as well as the upper edges of the inclined webs being attached to the same structural element

Development of stitched/RTM primary structures for transport aircraft

This report covers work accomplished in the Innovative Composite Aircraft Primary Structure (ICAPS) program. An account is given of the design criteria and philosophy that guides the development. Wing and fuselage components used as a baseline for development are described. The major thrust of the program is to achieve a major cost breakthrough through development of stitched dry preforms and resin transfer molding (RTM), and progress on these processes is reported. A full description is provided on the fabrication of the stitched RTM wing panels. Test data are presented

Airbag system and method for facilitating emergency egress from an aircraft

An airbag system for elevating the fuselage of an aircraft off a landing surface a sufficient degree to allow for emergency egress of passengers and crew through ventral emergency exit doors. An airbag assembly made up of a plurality of independent airbags is disposed within the aircraft. When activated, the airbag system deploys the airbags external of the aircraft that elevate the fuselage of the aircraft a sufficient degree to allow for utilizing the ventral emergency exit doors on the fuselage to enable evacuating the passengers and crew. An activation mechanism is connected to the inflation.devices associated with each of the airbags. The activation mechanism generates an electrical signal which activates the inflation devices, which in turn fill the airbags with a compressed fluid, thus expanding the airbags and lifting the fuselage. A crew member initiates the activation of the airbag system through one or more switches