| Research and Development [R&D]
By RDL – A project to make autogyros (and flocks of autogyros, controllable by a “Mother Hawk”), and all able to be flown pilotlessly. RDL will choose names, perhaps Gavin Sport, Gavin Hawk, Gavin Super Hawk and Master Chief Super Hawk, between four different models. They may be adapted from existing systems for pilotless military aircraft such as the RQ-4A/B Global Hawk, as developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) (See:
fas.org/irp/program/collect/global_hawk.htm,
airforce-technology.com/projects/global/, and ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=/iel3/62/11188/00533750.pdf.)
In this case, the initial emphasis is on the ability of an autogyro to:
1. Take off, vertically
2. Carrying from zero to 10 people, and goods and baggage, to a
3. Selected destination and
4. Land, vertically
5. Allow them to debark the people and goods and, later,
6. Convey them back to their departure point or to
7. One or more other destinations, as requested
8. Loop back to 4., above, until return to base requested, else
9. Land again vertically and
10. Allow them to debark the people and goods, again
11. Probably vocally
12. All without a pilot on board.
Navigation en route will take advantage of Geographic Positioning Systems -- [GPS] throughout the voyages. In addition, the Gavin Hawk series will be able to fly pilotlessly, carrying passengers or not, under the control of a pilotless Mother HawkMaster Chief Super Hawk [MCSH]. In addition they will take off, join flocks, travel in formations, while automatically avoiding collisions, split away from the flock and land, vertically, in designated spots.
Designs Based on the Global Hawk --
and/or a piloted - The material below is background to the Global Hawk. RDL is considering the Global Hawk, with modifications, to act as fleets of pilotless “Mother Hawks” in control of other flocks of pilotless autogyros, much as a “control tower” at an airport, but not just for landing and taking off, but each Mother Hawk in control of an area, say, 47k square miles and all of the pilotless, passenger-carrying autogyros operating in that area.
- For example, overall, the UK contains 94k square miles, with 61m people, or 647 people/square-mile, about one person/acre. The 24/7 control requires two Mother Hawks, constantly in the air over the UK. Six on three eight-hour shifts/day, each controlling one of the 47k square-mile area would be necessary. If we begin with one Gavin Hawk series autogyro/square-mile available; one, on average, for every 647 people, we would have 47k Hawk autogyros in the each of the two assigned areas of UK (94k square miles, including the two areas). With, perhaps, one in 50 in flight during the day (9400) and one in 200 at some time in the night (2350). They would be carrying about 3.76k people during the day and 0.94k at some time during the night. Based on 100 mile-average-trips, at 250 mph, There would be in the air, on an average of 0.4 hours/trip, ie for 376 hours/twelve-hour day, at a rate of 31.3 trips per hour, a fairly light work-load.
- RDL is also considering Global Hawk as a basis for: a) some factors to be installed in quite different pilotless autogyros and b) modified, not for military espionage, but to collect up-to-date data to improve over Google Earth (or combine with it) for accurate, up-to-date maps of surface, ships, roads, road traffic, aircraft, (current: position, route, altitude, speed, diagnosis of craft, departure and destination, owner, dispatcher), and history of autogyros registered for pilotless trips. This modified Global Hawk, as Mother Hawk, could oversee and check all matters connected with registration, but also transmit observations to Hawks (See: below.) and to ground, ship, or satellite-based centres.
- Four versions of pilotless, vertically capable, autogyros could be styled, based on a mix of the Spaceship 1 (passenger compartment), P-51 (shape of wings and rotor blades) and P-38 (twin boons and tail) designed to carry: a) zero to two people on Gavin Sport], b) zero to four people on the Gavin Hawk, c) zero to 10 people on the Gavin Super Hawk and d) two pilots on the Master Chief Super Hawk.
- Hawks are modeled on the Global Hawk arrangement of major components, especially if propelled by a jet engine as opposed to propeller driven. However they are not supersonic nor meant to operate in jet streams at over 30k feet, so the wings will be shorter and wider, tapered toward the tips and swept back. Propeller driven models will probably carry the propeller at the extreme rear tip, just like the afterburners of a jet exhaust.
- A new possibility has come to light: A glider equipped with a battery-powered electric motor, driving a propeller, has been developed. This assists direct flights, rather than just looking for thermals to keep a glider up in the sky, making up to 1,000-mile planned tours possible. We are considering these batteries to drive the autogyro’s rotor, more or less as an accessory, to make vertical takeoff and landing, if and as necessary. This could be fitted to the two-passenger Gavin Sports initially, before perfection of the jet-tip-engined design of rotor blades.
- In all cases, they will have their rotors on top, and equipped with jet tip engines, to rotate the rotor, instead of by autorotation when needed to land or takeoff, vertically. The rotor blades will be sharp-edged (such as a P-51’s wing), on both forward and aft edges, with the same shapes on top and bottom. The angle of attack and retractable flaps, along with speeding through the air, can be controlled to choose between how much lift, and how much drag, is generated.
- Openings on the leading edges of both blades for admitting oxygen for combustion of hydrogen fuel in mid-wing and exhaust ports near the tips, will be provided. In both case, the openings can be closed, for fairing, to operate either in autorotation mode, or as a wing. The rotor blade on one side will be reversible to permit the rotor to stop rotating and lock into a position, exactly opposite the other blade or, possibly, swept back. So, when carried forward through the air, both blades can provide: a) low drag at high speeds (ie up to subsonic speeds), and b) lift, by adjusting the angle of attack and/or extending the flaps, to land or takeoff, on short runways (100 to 250 feet long, dependent on wind), without any sort of power-driven, or auto, rotation, of the rotor.
- For emergency, and urgent, vertical-takeoff and landing, jet-tip-engines on the rotor blades (or battery power) can be provided, to rotate the rotor.
- For Gavin Sport, Gavin Hawks Gavin Super Hawks and Master Chief Super Hawks, RDL is considering the shape of the Spaceship I
(See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IMG_1237.jpg) for the passenger compartment, but with the wings below the center line, with light, retractable, outrigged, stabilizing wheels, less than seven feet apart. Outboard of the wheels, the wings can be folded so that each one of the Gavin Sports, Gavin Hawks, Gavin Super Hawks and Master Chief Super Hawks can be stored in a seven-feet-wide compartment below decks on car park, an autogyro-carrier railcar, a truck trailer, or in your garage at home. The decorative, circle motif will be dropped, using a pointed-bullet-type, clear canopy in front, but keeping the circular hatch behind the pilot/observer position, for passenger entry.
The Global Hawk – by Northrop Grumman Corporation
(Notes on Global Hawk – Additions in italics)
HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IMG_1237.jpg"
1. The Global Hawk successfully participated in a series of exercises with the RAAF, the Royal Australian Navy and the US Navy -- Guinness World Records has recognised the flight as the longest (13,840 km, 15,927 miles) by a full-scale unmanned aircraft.
2. In August 2003, Global Hawk -- became the first UAV to receive authorisation from the US Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] to fly in national airspace.
3. Unmanned Reconnaissance Capability -- Global Hawk can carry out reconnaissance missions in all types of operations. The 14,000 nm, (ie 16,111 miles), range and 42-hour endurance of the air vehicle, combined with satellite and line-of-sight communication links to ground forces, permits worldwide operation of the system.
4. High-resolution sensors, including visible and infrared electro-optical systems and synthetic aperture radar -- will conduct surveillance over an area of 40,000 nm² (nautical miles squared, say, 200 nautical miles on a side) to an altitude of 65,000 ft in 24 hours.
5. Six Global Hawk demonstrator vehicles have been deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan since 2002 and Operation Iraqi Freedom since 2003, completing over 4,300 combat hours.
6. Flight and Navigation Control -- The vehicle's flight control, vehicle management software and navigation functions are managed by two Integrated Mission Management Computers (IMMC) developed by Vista Controls Corporation, California. The IMMC (these are not Roman numbers) integrates data from the navigation system and uses Kalman filtering algorithms.
7. The prime navigation and control system consists of two KN-4072 INS/GPS (Inertial Navigation System / Global Positioning System) systems supplied by Kearfott Guidance & Navigation Corporation of Wayne, New Jersey.
8. "The Global Hawk has a 14,000 nm range and 42-hour endurance."
The KN-4072 includes a Monolithic Ring Laser Gyro (MRLG) which operates in conjunction with an embedded Differential ready C/A code GPS receiver for enhanced navigation performance and faster satellite acquisition. A Northrop Grumman (Litton) navigation system is installed on the IR/TV/SAR payload.
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