ProJector; High Efficiency Rotors for High Speed VTOL

A paradigm shift in VTOL rotor design has been developed over several years of fundamental experimental and computational research that greatly increases aerodynamic efficiency and overall thrust loading.  The ejector system in the ProJector lifting fan has experimentally demonstrated the capability of augmenting the thrust of the primary propulsion system through dramatically increasing the overall mass flow rate through the system. Wind tunnel experiments and computational results show that the total force generated by the ProJector system can be 2-3x larger than the force available from the primary propulsion system alone in hover and 5x larger in forward flight. A ProJector aircraft would support VTOL and conventional takeoff and landing operations with the ease of a quadcopter while maintaining the speed and range of a fixed wing aircraft in forward flight. A ProJector aircraft would greatly reduce the mechanical complexity of today's helicopter and tilt rotor aircraft by eliminating the large propellers and gearboxes significantly lowering aircraft weight increasing reliability and safety.