Augmentor-ejector reference compilation. A large number of vertical takeoff and landing (vtol) aircraft were developed across the world, and particularly in the U.S. During the 1950S through 1980S…

This is a Cost Plus Fixed Fee delivery order contract awarded by the Langley Research Center, a civilian NASA center, to the National Institute of Aerospace Associates (NIA), a non-profit research organization. The $10,171.81 contract aims to develop a comprehensive reference compilation on prior fixed-wing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft configurations that employed high mass flow augmentors and augmentor-ejectors. The goal is to document lessons learned on the potential application of distributed electric propulsion as an enabler for the feasibility of these VTOL concepts. The contract also includes gathering references on ornithopter concepts that could leverage distributed electric propulsion. This effort does not have a set-aside designation. NIA has a long history of supporting NASA and DoD research through federal contracts and grants, particularly in areas like aeronautics, atmospheric science, and advanced aerospace technologies.

Augmentor-ejector reference compilation. A large number of vertical takeoff and landing (vtol) aircraft were developed across the world, and particularly in the U.S. During the 1950S through 1980S that explored diverse configuration approaches towards achieving feasible operations. However, across these hundreds of design studies and flight demonstrators only the v-22 osprey and AV-8B harrier have achieved operational status as feasible concept approaches. The development of distributed electric propulsion represents a fundamentally new propulsion technology that will likely change the feasibility of previously attempted concept approaches, due to the scale-free nature of the electric propulsion to be applied anywhere across the aircraft system. IT is highly desirable to RE-evaluate prior vtol configuration attempts to understand the potential of this technology to alter the feasibility. Much of the research relating to vtol aircraft has been disappearing as the researchers who performed this research are retiring and companies fail to retain the detailed research results. This research will develop a comprehensive set of references relating to prior fixed wing vtol configurations employing high mass flow augmentors and augmentor-ejectors and document the lessons learned relating to the application of distributed electric propulsion as a new technology enabler that promotes feasibility of specific concept approaches. This research will also gather a number of ornithopter references that could apply to the application of distributed electric propulsion (DEP).