Jetoptera, Inc. completed its first flight testing with a representative version of its proprietary and revolutionary Fluidic Propulsion System in a conventional take off configuration. The test is a world premiere for technology of this nature.
source.image: Jetoptera
The company’s proprietary propulsion technology, which fluidically utilizes entrainment and augmentation to generate required thrust for vertical take off and landing (VTOL) as well as for level flight, was successfully tested in flight for the first time. The platform was the J55, Jetoptera’s first and smallest product. The J55 was introduced earlier this year in both a Part 107 commercial version and a high speed/high altitude version for government customers.
The FPS is based on a turbine that powers a turbo-compressor with the thrust output being augmented by thrusters. On its eye-catching aircraft demonstrator, Jetoptera has integrated these thrusters into a box-wing design combined with a canard, which it has tested in a wind tunnel, and has also used FPS for powered flight on a glider.
Advertisement
The company is starting out with efficient gas turbine generators, routing the exhaust gas through the fluidic propulsion systems. This compressed air is forced through tiny, directional slits all around the inner surface of Jetoptera’s hollow propulsion units.
The Fluidic Propulsive System will be deployed in the entire line of Jetoptera products larger that 55 lbs, for both unmanned and manned aircraft. Over the past two years, the system has been extensively evaluated in wind tunnel and static tests. The current version uses a small gas generator, adapted for the proof-of-concept phase, along with fluidic devices called thrusters, developed in-house and produced using advanced ceramic technology.
