US 12,030,623 B2
Drag reducing spinner for high speed stop fold rotor
Christopher E. Foskey, Keller, TX (US)
Assigned to Textron Innovations Inc., Providence, RI (US)
Filed by Bell Textron Inc., Fort Worth, TX (US)
Filed on Jul. 30, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/390,513.
Prior Publication US 2023/0030948 A1, Feb. 2, 2023
Int. Cl. B64C 27/30 (2006.01); B64C 11/14 (2006.01); B64C 29/00 (2006.01); B64F 5/10 (2017.01)
CPC B64C 27/30 (2013.01) [B64C 11/14 (2013.01); B64C 29/0033 (2013.01); B64F 5/10 (2017.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A VTOL aircraft, comprising:
a fuselage;
a wing coupled to the fuselage;
two or more stop rotors coupled to the wing, each stop rotor operable to provide vertical thrust when in a generally vertical orientation and further operable to be maneuvered to a generally horizontal direction during forward flight;
a plurality of rotor blades coupled to each of the two or more stop rotors; and
a spinner coupled to the top of each stop rotor, each spinner comprising;
two or more faces, the two or more faces joined along their lateral edges and configured to come together at a point on a first end and configured to form an opening at a distal end, the opening receiving at least a portion of a respective one of the two or more stop rotors therethrough, wherein each of the two or more faces is non-undulating;
two or more chines, each defining a border between two of the two or more faces; and
a blade cutout along each chine, each blade cutout configured to allow for coupling between one of the two or more stop rotors and one of the plurality of rotor blades therethrough, wherein each of the two or more chines extends from the point to the blade cutout.