Ventilated rotor mounting boom for personal aircraft
Described embodiments provide a rotor mounting boom assembly for a personal aircraft. The rotor mounting boom assembly includes a rotor mounting boom releasably attachable to a wing of the personal aircraft, one or more vertical lift rotors, and one or more rotor controller assemblies. Controller assemblies for each rotor are positioned on the rotor mounting booms such that downwash from the rotor causes increased airflow across the controller assembly to cool the controller assembly components. A rotor controller enclosure includes an air inlet and an air outlet to allow airflow through the enclosure to cool the controller components. The air inlet is positioned relative to the path of the rotor blades such that the downwash from the rotor that flows into the air inlet is maximized. The structure of the enclosure includes features for increasing the airflow through the enclosure.
1. A boom assembly for a personal aircraft, the boom assembly comprising:
a boom attachment interface to mount the boom assembly to a wing of the personal aircraft via;
a vertical lift rotor attachment interface to mount a vertical lift rotor to the boom assembly;
an air inlet positioned on the boom such that airflow generated by the vertical lift rotor is directed through the air inlet; and
a rotor controller enclosure internal to the boom assembly, the rotor controller enclosure comprising a location to install a rotor controller to control the vertical lift rotor, wherein the rotor controller enclosure is in fluid communication with the air inlet and an air outlet for allowing air to flow through the rotor controller enclosure.
2. The boom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the vertical lift rotor attachment interface comprises a first vertical lift fan rotor attachment interface located forward of the boom attachment interface and the boom assembly further includes a second vertical lift rotor attachment interface located aft of the boom attachment interface.
3. The boom assembly of claim 2 , wherein the boom assembly further includes a second controller enclosure associated with the second vertical lift rotor attachment interface.
4. The boom assembly of claim 3 , wherein the air inlet comprises a first air inlet and the air outlet comprises a first air outlet; the boom assembly further includes a second air inlet and a second air outlet; and the second controller enclosure is in fluid communication with the second air inlet and the second air outlet.
5. The boom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the controller enclosure further includes a heat exchanger coupled to the rotor controller, the heat exchanger adapted to dissipate heat from the rotor controller.
6. The boom assembly of claim 5 , wherein the heat exchanger is a folded-fin heat exchanger.
7. The boom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the air inlet is positioned below a rotor path of the vertical lift rotor a distance substantially equal to one chord length of a blade of the vertical lift rotor.
8. The boom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the air inlet is positioned below a rotor path of the vertical lift rotor a distance substantially equal to one half a chord length of a blade of the vertical lift rotor.
9. The boom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the air inlet is positioned along the boom at a position that is below the outer 50% of a rotor path of the rotor.
10. The boom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the controller enclosure comprises a raised area aft of the air inlet to increase the air pressure around the air inlet.
11. The boom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the controller enclosure comprises an inlet cowl to direct air into the air inlet.
12. The boom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the controller enclosure assembly further comprises a nose cone to direct airflow inside the controller enclosure.
13. The boom assembly of claim 1 , wherein the controller enclosure assembly further comprises channels for directing airflow inside the controller enclosure.
14. The boom assembly of claim 1 , wherein a duct is disposed between the air inlet and the controller enclosure, the duct capable of directing air from the air inlet to the controller enclosure.
15. The boom assembly of claim 1 , further comprising an auxiliary fan coupled to a vertical lift rotor assembly that includes the vertical lift rotor such that the vertical lift rotor assembly drives the auxiliary fan, wherein the auxiliary fan directs airflow through the air inlet.
16. The boom assembly of claim 15 , wherein the auxiliary fan is driven by a drive shaft coupled to the vertical lift rotor assembly and the auxiliary fan.
17. The boom assembly of claim 16 , further comprising a gear assembly disposed between the drive shaft and the auxiliary fan such that an axis of rotation of the auxiliary fan is not parallel to an axis of rotation of the drive shaft.