Inlet Temperature Rise Research Articles

A large-scale boiler plate VTOL test bed was designed and fabricated around the Ames Lift Engine Pod. Ground proximity tests were conducted in cooperation with Ames Research Center at the Ames VTOL test facility. Program objectives were to establish VTOL aircraft environmental characteristics during near-ground operation and to determine the degree of hot gas ingestion and induced lift effects experienced by a number of potential VTOL fighter configurations. The results showed, as expected, that both ingestion and induced lift effects are strongly configuration-dependent, and for some configurations the degree of ingestion experienced cannot be tolerated in an operational aircraft. Rapid inlet temperature rise with a high temperature distortion at the compressor face generally resulted in engine stall. For certain engine groupings, wing, and lift/cruise inlet locations, hot gas ingestion was greatly minimized. Results also showed that transient measurements with rapid-response thermocouple and recording equipment are needed for realistic assessment of the VTOL environment and for inlet temperature rise caused by ingestion.

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