DARPA okays construction of X-65 plane with air jet flight controls | FerrariChat

DARPA okays construction of X-65 plane with air jet flight controls

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by NYC Fred, Jan 9, 2024.

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  1. NYC Fred

    NYC Fred F1 Veteran
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    #1 NYC Fred, Jan 9, 2024
    Image Unavailable, Please Login Pretty fugly...

    DARPA has awarded a contract to Aurora Flight Sciences to build a full-scale aircraft called the X-65. It will test a new technology that replaces moving control surfaces with Active Flow Control (AFC) actuators that use jets of air for control....





    Using AFC actuators, DARPA hopes to one day replace all these expensive, weighty control surfaces with a much simpler system that depends on jets of air to do the same thing. Instead of moving control surfaces, an AFC system uses an array of nozzles installed on the following edges of the airfoils. By shooting compressed air out of these nozzles, they can change the air pressure in the vicinity and alter the air flow over the airfoil. In this way, the system can change the roll, pitch, and yaw of the aircraft.

    According to DARPA, the robotic X-65 will have a distinct diamond-shaped design for greater strength.
     
  2. donv

    donv Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #2 donv, Jan 9, 2024
    My daughter in law is an aerospace engineer for Aurora! It wouldn't surprise me if she ended up on this project, although I probably wouldn't find out.
     
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  3. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    #3 tazandjan, Jan 9, 2024
    Reaction control systems were in use decades ago in the X-15 and most spacecraft (some use reaction wheels). But the X-65 system is quite different because much higher flows or flow modification are required.
     
  4. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #4 energy88, Jan 10, 2024
    Won't the AFC system require enormous amounts of energy to create enough velocity for the air jets to maintain continuous control? What will be the source of that energy on the aircraft?
     
  5. Innovativethinker

    Innovativethinker F1 Veteran
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    #5 Innovativethinker, Jan 10, 2024
    can’t imagine how much air would be required at landing.
     
  6. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    #6 tazandjan, Jan 10, 2024
    We used engine bleed air for boundary layer control on a lot of older fighters, including the F-4. Lots of energy from that source, if you can stand the power loss. Airliner APUs are often powered by bleed air, too, once off of ground power and air.
     

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