Design and Experimental Study of a Turbojet VTOL Aircraft with One-Dimensional Thrust Vectoring Nozzles

Abstract

Turbojet engines have a slow response and require mechanical assistance to perform vertical take-offs and landings. In this paper, we propose a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft that contains one-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzle modules to solve the problem of dependence on the response of the turbojet. The turbojet engine is placed horizontally in the module, the rotational speeds are fixed, and the force along the turbojet axis remains constant as the nozzle rotates from the horizontal to the vertical position. The aircraft is composed of four modules, whose position and attitude control are realized by using the thrust difference caused by the different angles of the four vector nozzles. The modules no longer rely on the response speed of the turbojet engine, and controlling the angles of four nozzles makes it easier to operate the aircraft. The horizontal placement of the turbojet can reduce the thickness of the aircraft fuselage and decrease air resistance. The process of moving the nozzle from a horizontal to a vertical position prevents the engine from blowing directly on the ground and, thus, reduces the ground effect.