Supersonic or hypersonic vehicle control system comprising elevons with hinge line sweep and free of adverse aerodynamic cross couplin

Rainey, R. W.

English

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REPLY TO 
ATTN OF: Gp 
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION 
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20546 
~ S ~ / S c i e n t i f i c  & Technical Information Division 
Attention: M i s s  Winnie M. Morgan 
FROM: ~ ~ / 0 f f i c e  of Assistaqt General Counsel for  
Patent Matters 
SUBJECT: Announcement of NASA-Owned U. S . Patents i n  STAR 
In accordance with the procedures agreed upon by Code GP 
and Code U S I ,  the attached NASA-owned U. S. Patent is being 
forwarded for  abstracting and announcement i n  NASA STAR, 
The following information is provided: 
U. S. Patent No. 
Government or 
Corporate Employee 
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Source (if  applicable) 
NASA Patent Case No, 
NOTE - I f  t h i s  patent covers an invention made by a corporate 
employee of a NASA Contractor, the following is applicable: 
yes 0 NO IS 
Pursuant t o  Section 305(a) of the National Aeronautics and 
Space Act, the name of the Administrator of NASA appears on 
the first page of the patent; however, the name of the actual 
inventor (author) appears a t  the heading of Colurnn No. 1 of 
the Specification, following the words . . with respect t o  
w u . .  
N71-2708 
a -  - A 
- - - - - - - _ 3 (ACCESSION NUMBER) - 8 
Enclosure 5 
Copy of Patent a i ted  abwe - (CODE) 
- (CATEGORY) oa 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19710017612 2020-03-17T03:08:19+00:00Z
PATENTED MAR 16 1971 
FIG. 2 
. _ _  
FIG. 4 
FIG. 3 INVENTOR. ROBERT W. RAINEY 
BY 
United States Patent rl11 3,570,789 
[72] Inventor Robert W. Rainey 
Newport News, Va. 
[21] Appl. No. 837,830 
[22] Filed June 30,1969 
[45] Patented Mar. 16,1971 
[73] Assignee The United States of America as represented 
by the Administrator of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration 
[54] HIGH-SPEED FLIGHT VEHICLE CONTROL 
3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs. 
........................................................ [52] U.S. CI 244190 
......................................................... [51 ] Int. CI B64c 9/02 
............................................ [50] Field of Search 244190, 87, 
2,42,43 
[561 References Cited 
UNITED STATES PATENTS 
1,764,932 611930 Chadbourne ................. 
..................... 2.51 1,502 611950 Gluhareff 
3,104,079 911963 Phillips ......................... 
................. 3,143,317 811964 Walley et al. 
3,204,892 911965 Powell .......................... 
3,289,974 1211 966 Cohen et al ................... 
Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler 
Assistant Examiner-Carl A. Rutledge 
Attorneys-Wallace J. Nelson, Howard J. Osborn and G. T. 
McCoy 
- A vehicle having supersonic and hypersonic 
flight capabilities equipped with a pair of elevons on the aft 
end of the body and disposed with hinge lines swept forward 
relative to the aircraft centerline at an angle less than 9 

. ~ n  iterative procedure is then carried out until 8 calculated 2 
8 assumed; and for that circumstance, the yawing-moment- 
due-toroll-control deflection should be approximately zero at 
bypcrsonic speeds. 
For a groverse supersonic or hypersonic yawing-moment- 
due-to-roil-control deflection, 8 should be less than calcu- 
lated by the above procedure. Similarly, for an adverse super- 
sonic or hypersonic yawing-moment-due-to-roll-control 
deflection, 8 shouid be greater than calculated by the above 
procedure. 
it is thus seen that when the elevons are deflected dif- 
ferentially to produce a rolling moment, by use of concept of 
the preseni invention the cross-coupling or yawing moment 
may be either zero, ad,verse or proverse, dependent upon the 
sweep angle of the control hinge line. 
Aithough the invention has been described in reference to a 
specific reentry vehicie, it is equally applicable to other super- 
sonic and hypersonic vehicles capable of flight within a sensi- 
ble atmosphere. Accordingly, it is to be understood that varia- 
tions and modifications may be made therein without depart- 
ing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the 
appended claims. Thus, numerous variations and modifica- 
tions will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. 
1 claim: 
1. An aerodynamic control system for an aircraft having su- 
personic or hypersonic atmospheric flight capabilities, the im- 
provement therewith comprising a pair of elevons at the aft 
end of said fuselage providing longitudinal and lateral 
aerodynamic control of said aircraft, said elevons being pro- 
vided with hinge lines swept forward relative to the aircraft 
centerline at a precision angle calculated less than 90" and 
whereby the control forces generated by movement of said 
elevons at supersonic or hypersonic speeds are in a plane that 
5 passes essentially through or aft of the aircraft center of gravi- 
ty to thereby remove any adverse yawing moment of the air- 
craft during roll control produced by differential elevon 
deflection. 
2. An aerodynamic control system for a high-speed flight 
vehicle capable of flight at  supersonic and hypersonic speeds 
and provided with aerodynamic controls the output of which 
are free of adverse cross-coupling at supersonic and hyper- 
sonic speeds, the improvement comprising said aerodynamic 
controls being in the form of elevons, said elevons being pro- 
l5  vided with a precision calculated hinge line sweep angle rela- 
tive to the centerline of said flight vehicle of less than 90" such 
that the output of said elevons is free of adverse cross- 
coupling at  supersonic and hypersonic speeds. 
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the hinge sweep angle of 
20 said elevons is calculated by the equation: 
25 wherein X, and Y, are the ordinates of the center of area of 
control of said elevons and 8 calc is the sweep angle of said 
hinge line of the elevons relative to the centerline of said air- 
craft. 


High speed flight vehicle control Patent

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