Broomfield, Colorado, July 17, 2012 – Today the USPTO granted a patent to Frontline Aerospace for a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aerial vehicle (US 822,0737 B2).
“The future of VTOL aircraft is what is called fancraft rather than rotorcraft, as seen in films like Avatar and The Avengers,” said Frontline CEO Ryan S. Wood. “The ducted fan approach has big fundamental advantages which are captured in our V-STAR drone design. There is a center fan with no exposed blades for lift, a down tail, diamond box wings and a ducted pusher fan. The payload is right at the center of gravity. The sum of these design elements embodies the novelty and usefulness of the aircraft,” said Wood.
V-STAR is powered by twin Rolls-Royce model 250 gas turbines with Frontline’s MicroFire and IsoCool performance enhancements.
Two of the inventors are world class aircraft designers. Darold Cummings is a retired Boeing Technical Fellow with decades of experience in configuring aircraft and is currently a subject matter expert with several DoD agencies. Darold also just received the prestigious 2015 AIAA Aircraft Design Award and medal. Dave Hall also has a long history at Lockheed Martin in aircraft design and as an aeronautical engineering professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where his student teams have won numerous design competitions.
“The V-STAR represents a breakthrough in VTOL aircraft design,” said Darold. “It combines excellent capability for operation in confined spaces not suitable for helicopters with very efficient performance in horizontal flight.”
Frontline also worked with Empirical Systems Aerospace in the design and performance modeling of the V-STAR aircraft. “ES Aero is a very talented group of bright aeronautical design engineers who have routinely outperformed my expectations,” said Wood.
Frontline Aerospace, Inc. is an advanced manufacturing company based near Denver, CO focusing on breakthrough energy efficiency and aviation concepts.
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