FRANK NICHOLAS PIASECKI
Engineers in Haverford, PA

5393015, Feb 28, 1995

Jun 1, 1993

8/070535

Frank N. Piasecki - Haverford PA

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation - Essington PA

B64D 3900

244135A

An elongated, rigid boom for the in-flight refueling of rotary wing aircraft in which a forward end of the boom is adapted for attachment to the fuselage of a rotary wing tanker aircraft and is of sufficient length to extend rearwardly of the tanker aircraft for the rear end of the boom to be clear of the tanker aircraft rotor path. The forward end of a funnel refueling drogue configured to receive the fueling probe of an aircraft to be refueled is swivelly attached to the rear end of the rigid boom and a fuel line supported by the boom extends from a connection into the tanker aircraft refueling tanks to a female refueling aircraft probe connection in the drogue. Pressurized air flowing within the boom is discharged from a downwardly directed nozzle and selectively from outwardly facing nozzles on each side of the boom adjacent the boom rear end with the nozzles being configured to establish a volume rate discharge as creates a vertical lifting force on the boom compensating for gravity and rotor downwash and boom side forces selectively directed horizontally outwardly in either direction for establishing yaw control of the boom.

5188313, Feb 23, 1993

Jan 3, 1992

7/816721

Frank N. Piasecki - Haverford PA

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation - Essington PA

B64C 3702, B64D 300, B64D 3900

244 3

The towed glider flight control system of the invention has a towing frame interconnecting and pivotally connected at each end to the towed glider and the towing aircraft. Sensors measuring the angular relationships between the towing frame and the towed glider and the rage of change in these relationships and sensors measuring flight conditions of the glider and towing aircraft are connected to the input of a computer of which the output connects to the glider aerodynamic control surface. The computer determines differences between sensor sensed parameter values existing when a selected spatial geometric relationship exists between the glider and towing aircraft and sensor parameter values received by the computer from the sensors and from these differences the computer calculates motions required of the glider aerodynamic flight path control surfaces to establish a glider flight which establish and maintain the selected spatial geometric relationship of the glider and towing aircraft.

4905932, Mar 6, 1990

Jun 21, 1988

7/209576

Frank N. Piasecki - Haverford PA

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation - Essington PA

B64C 2782

244 1719

An improved structure for the shrouded propeller tail duct or "ring tail" of a rotary wing aircraft providing rotor torque counteracting and aircraft yaw control forces in all flight conditions of hovering and high speed cruising flight. The rear portion of one lateral side of the shrouded propeller duct comprises a plurality of overlying arcuate segments that are pivotally supported for rotation relative to each other about a vertical axis between a retracted position for high speed flight in which the segments are in a mutually overlying position constituting one side of the duct and an extended position in which the segments are in a mutually adjoining relationship with their edges only overlapping and extending obliquely transversely of the duct interior in the form of a continuous, rearwardly projecting and transversely extending arcuate extension of the interior wall of one side of the duct. This extendable elbow duct section, in combination with a vertically extending rudder vane comprising a plurality of tandemly arranged sections with pivotal connections of each other for rotation relative to one another about respective axis between a neutral position with the vane sections in alignment and a deflected position with the vane sections angularly arranged relative to each other in the form of an arc extending transversely of the duct forwardly of and congruent with the contour of the fully extended duct segments, provides a propeller slip stream containing and deflecting structure that smoothly deflects the slip stream from the propeller through 90 degrees with minimum turbulence when the aircraft is in a slow speed and hover flight condition.

5123613, Jun 23, 1992

Sep 6, 1989

7/403679

Frank N. Piasecki - Haverford PA

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation - Essington PA

B64C 2782, B64C 2778

244 1719

An improved control system for a rotary wing aircraft having a tail assembly comprising an annular duct within the interior of which a variable pitch propeller is concentrically mounted for rotation forwardly of movable surfaces for deflecting the slip stream generated by the propeller transversely of the duct as will provide transversely directed thrust forces for amounts required to counteract rotor torque and provide directional control of the aircraft in azimuth. The improvement comprises a collective pitch torque compensation unit connected between the pilot's rotor collective pitch control and the pitch control actuator of the propeller in which the compensation unit establishes changes in the pitch of the tail propeller that are proportional to changes in the rotor collective pitch in amounts that vary dependent upon the high or low range pitch setting of a pilot operable propeller pitch adjusting switch, whereby compensating thrust forces are automatically generated in counteracting changes in rotor torque created by changes in rotor collective pitch.

4624599, Nov 25, 1986

Jun 14, 1984

6/620700

Frank N. Piasecki - Haverford PA

Piasecki Aircraft Corp. - Essington PA

F16D 300, B64C 106

403178

A structural joint and method of making the joint wherein an end portion of each of a plurality of tubes is partially flattened into an elongated, oval annular shape of a cross sectional contour that the flattened ends of the tubes can be telescopically nested within one another, the tubes are arranged to have their axes coplanar to intersect at the joint node with the tube flattened ends in a telescopically, mutually nesting relationship to each other, a splice plate extending into the interior of the nested array of flattened tube ends and having upper and lower surfaces in an underlying, closely adjoining relation to interior surfaces of each of the tube flattened end portions, and fastening means tightly clamping together the nesting, flattened tube ends and splice plate contained therewithin.

2004000, Jan 8, 2004

Jul 3, 2002

10/188253

Frank Piasecki - Haverford PA, US
Frederick Piasecki - Haverford PA, US
Dezi Folenta - Lincoln Park NJ, US

F16D003/56, F16D003/64, F16D003/78

464/098000

A flexible coupling for coupling together a pair of axially misaligned shafts of which the respective ends of the shafts retainably fit within a hub within the interior of which the longitudinal axes of the shafts meet at a common point. A plurality of arms extend radially outwardly along the hub and a portion of the hub adjacent each and extend toward each other into the interior of the hub into contact with a bearing contained within the hub of the common point, whereby ends of each respective shaft and hub retaining portion are movable relative to one another.

4591112, May 27, 1986

Oct 12, 1979

6/084234

Frank N. Piasecki - Haverford PA
Donald N. Meyers - Elkins Park PA

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation - Sharon Hill PA

B64B 134

244 26

An airship with provisions for vectored thrust provided by a plurality of controllable pitch rotor thrust producing units attached to the elongated aerostat hull spaced from and on opposite sides of the center of overall mass of the airship. The pitch control systems for the rotors of all thrust units include collective and cyclic pitch controls of the main, horizontally rotating lifting rotors and the control systems are interconnected to be operable by a master control which establishes both similar and differential pitch settings of the rotors of selected thrust units in a manner to establish vectored thrust in directions which establish the required amounts of vertical lift, propulsion thrust, trim and control forces to control all flight aspects of the airship.

8463465, Jun 11, 2013

Jun 29, 2010

12/825963

Frank N. Piasecki - Haverford PA, US
Andrew S. Greenjack - Thornton PA, US
Joseph F. Horn - State College PA, US

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation - Essington PA

G05D 1/00, G06F 7/00

701 4, 701 1, 701 3, 701 5, 701 11, 701 15, 701 16, 701 18

The Invention is a control system for a compound aircraft. A compound aircraft has features of both a helicopter and a fixed wing aircraft and provides redundant control options. The control system allows an authorized person to select any of plurality of operational objectives each of which is designed to achieve any particular command.

7908044, Mar 15, 2011

Jul 3, 2008

12/168051

Frank N. Piasecki - Haverford PA, US
Andrew S. Greenjack - Thornton PA, US
Joseph F. Horn - State College PA, US

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation - Essington PA

G05D 1/08

701 4, 701 1, 701 3, 701 5, 701 6, 701 8, 701 10, 701 11, 701 14, 701 15, 701 16, 701 18

The Invention is a control system for a compound aircraft. A compound aircraft has features of both a helicopter and a fixed wing aircraft and provides redundant control options. The control system allows an authorized person to select any of plurality of operational objectives each of which is designed to achieve any particular command.

7823827, Nov 2, 2010

Jul 24, 2007

11/782353

Frederick W. Piasecki - Haverford PA, US
Frank N. Piasecki - Haverford PA, US

B64C 27/82, B64C 27/08, B64C 27/52

244 1719, 244 1723, 244 56

The Invention is a rotary-wing aircraft having at least two vectored thrusters that may be tilted from a horizontal to a vertical position and to positions intermediate between the horizontal and vertical positions. The two vectored thrusters are equipped with propellers having separately variable pitch. The two vectored thrusters also are equipped with vanes having selectable vane angles to direct separately the air flow from the two vectored thrusters. A control system detects the flight condition of the aircraft and selects vectored thruster control settings corresponding to the detected flight condition and consistent with predetermined control rules to provide lift, thrust, yaw moments and roll moments.