CX-131 / CL-84 Dynavert
Canadair's bold new design broke new ground with the CL-84. In retrospect, the Canadair CL-84 V/STOL program might have been the first Tilt-Wing concept vehicle to demonstrate considerable success with the technique and generate interest worldwide. The Canadair CL-84 vertical takeoff and landing aircraft was to be used as a airborne, search, rescue, sanitary, reconnaissance and communication aircraft and aircraft to support ground forces. The civil version of the aircraft was supposed to be used for short-distance transport in hard-to-reach areas, for scientific research and sanitation.
Despite the fact that the CL-84 was successful in the experimental and operational trials carried out between 1972 and 1974, no production contracts resulted. Its experimental "tilt-wing combined vertical take-off-and-landing with a low-speed, fixed-wing capability. To take off have the wings set to about 70 degrees. Land transitions are tricky but will get there with patience.
The Canadair CL-84 "Dynavert", designated by the Canadian Forces as the CX-131, was a V/STOL turbine tiltwing monoplane designed and manufactured by Canadair between 1964 and 1972. Produced as part of a 1950s and 1960s wave of interest in “convertiplanes” (aircraft with helicopter and airplane capabilities). Its flight control system was designed by Karlis Irbitis, a brilliant Latvian engineer who came to Canada in 1948.
The CL-84 was a sizable machine with a maximum height of 14 feet, seven inches, and a rotor tip-to-tip length of over 4.2m. The wings had a total area of 21.6m2 with the trailing and leading edge flaps having a sizable 4.7m2. The empty weight of the plane was 3380kg. In a maximum payload configuration, the plane could be loaded to 675kg for a pure VTOL mission, while 1620kg of payload was accomplishable in a STOL or conventional mission.
The Canadair CL-84 was an all-metal monoplane with a high-riveted swivel wing, two turbocharged and three-axle chassis. The fuselage aircraft is CL-84 semi-monocoque design of aluminum alloys. In the bow is the crew cabin, the glazing of which provides a good view. To improve the view down, there are additional glazing panels. In the cargo cabin with a size of 3.05x1.42x1.37 m and a volume of 8.66 m2 can accommodate 12 armed paratroopers. In the cockpit of the pilot there is a control column and steering pedals.
The wing of the Canadair CL-84 is rectangular in plan, continuous. The wing profile of NACA 633-418 is modified, the wing chord is 2.3 m, the elongation is 4.76, the wing area is 32.67 m2. Throughout the span of the wing there are flaps and slats, the chord of the latter is doubled over the fuselage to eliminate the flow stall at large angles of attack. Flaps can be used as ailerons. With vertical take-off and landing, the wing rotates in the range from 2 ° to 102 °. When takeoff with a short takeoff run, the wing is set to an intermediate position.
The combination tilt-wing deflected-slipstream V/STOL vehicle had a gross weight of about 11 200 lbf (49 800 N) for VTOL operation. This aircraft was designed for STOL operation at gross weights up to about 14 700 lbf (65 400 N). For the present flight-test evaluation, the VTOL configuration, which included 1000 lbf (4448 N) of fuel and about 1600 lbf (7117 N) of instrumentation, was used. Power was supplied by two gas-turbine engines of the free-turbine type, each engine driving 14-foot-diameter (4.27-m) propellers. The engines, which were linked by cross-shafting, were located in wing-mounted nacelles. Each engine had a maximum output rating of 1400 shaft horsepower (1044 kW). The wing was equipped with Krueger flaps at the leading edge and full-span single-slotted flaps at the trailing edge. The leading- and trailing-edge flaps were deflected automatically with wing incidence and were designed to alleviate stall effects during the transition mode of flight.
The Canadair CL-84 was supposed to be armed with a gun of 20 mm caliber installed in the fairing under the fuselage, two containers with rockets and a Mini-gun type machine gun with a caliber of 7.62 mm, installed in the forward part of the fuselage. In a Canadair brochure from February 1969 about the CL-84, there was a mission profile shown fr the CL-84 in the CAS role. With a crew of two, a mission radius of 200nm and a loiter time of 45 minutes, armament is given as a minigun with 3000 rounds and 4 500 lbs bombs.
An improved version of the CL-84-1C aircraft with improved characteristics was developed. The front part of the fuselage was lengthened by 0.28 m and the main cargo hatch is shifted by 0.9 m to the tail section. The volume of the cargo cabin was increased to 7.9 m. It was intended to use the LTCIS-2 TVD, which is a modification of the TVD Lykoming T-53, but a larger capacity, 1800 l. from. The maximum takeoff weight at vertical take-off was 6800 kg, the maximum take-off weight at take-off with a small takeoff run is 7620 kg, the maximum speed is 560 km / h, the flight range is 1200 km. In the transport-landing version, the aircraft must have a crew of two people and carry 16 soldiers.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
