Battery-powered prototypes demonstrate airflow technique to generate vehicle lift and provide control
UK-based Geoff's Flying Saucer (GFS) Projects has demonstrated its Coanda-effect unmanned air vehicle to the Ministry of Defence.
The 0.91m (3ft)-diameter, 5.45kg (12lb) GFS-6a and smaller -7 prototypes were demonstrated at an indoor flying area in Peterborough. The battery-powered vertical take-off and landing vehicles hovered and manoeuvred for about 3min, which is their current endurance.
A video of the craft flying can be seen below (Windows users), or can be downloaded to your iPod in Apple Quicktime format by clicking here.
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GFS-6a pictured hovering indoors during the demonstration |
“We expect substantial improvements with improved fan design,” says inventor and former hovercraft engineer Geoff Hatton. Despite the short endurance, a 0.75kg payload has been carried so far. The MoD representative present, David Bromley, works for the Joint UAV Experimental Team based at RAF Waddington.
The UAVs use the Coanda effect to generate lift and provide control (Flight International, 7-13 February). Hatton is talking to UK turbomachinery specialist PCA Engineers about fan development. As well as fan geometry, Hatton’s team has found that the location of stators on the canopy is important to stability and lift.
The University of Cambridge’s engineering department helped GFS understand the physics behind the Coanda-effect designs. Dr Holger Babinsky, a reader in aeronautics, was confident the vehicle would be stable, but says it was better than expected. Honeywell and the US Department of Defense’s Huntsville, Alabama tactical UAV office have visited GFS.
ROB COPPINGER / PETERBOROUGH
Blog:
Rob Coppinger visits Geoff's backyard shed to witness his Coanda-effect flying saucer demonstration
Source: Flight International
