Investigation on the flight characteristics of a conceptual fluidic thrust-vectored aerial tail-sitter

Abstract

The feasibility of integrating co-flow fluidic thrust-vectoring idea into the dynamics of a small flapless aerial tail-sitter is investigated in this article. The aircraft trimmability in different phases of flight and stability in take-off and level flight, are the main issues of concern for the study presented herein. In this respect, the vehicle's characteristic equations are derived by linearization of the general non-linear equations of motion. Since the vehicle was supposed to be merely controlled by fluidic thrust-vectoring, the concept was novel and some new derivatives are introduced. Margins of the required thrust-vector angle, to obtain a steady-state flight condition, are provided by use of the trim analysis. In addition, stability in take-off transition and level flight is considered utilizing the values of the system poles. Non-linear simulation is developed to examine the aircraft responses to the command inputs and to generate the aircraft trajectory. It is found that the integrated fluidic thrust-vectoring system can be employed as a viable means to achieve both conventional and transition flight for the proposed vehicle. The obtained mathematical model reveals the dependence of the aircraft performance and design criteria on the presented method. This model will be used for further studies on the general aspects of flight dynamics and control systems design for such vehicle.