The Application of Circulation Control Pneumatic Technology to Powered-Lift STOL Aircraft

The flow-entraining capability of the Circulation Control Wing blown high-lift system has been synergistically combined with upper-surface-mounted engines to provide an even stronger STOL potential. The resulting configurations generate very high supercirculation lift plus a vertical component of pneumatically-deflected engine thrust. Small-scale wind-tunnel and full-scale static thrust-deflection tests have verified these concepts by confirming thrust deflections of greater than 90° produced pneumatically by non-moving aerodynamic surfaces. High lift can be maintained while interchanging thrust recovery and thrust offset for optimum STOL performance, as well as for simplified heavy-lift or overload capability.