Introduction
Articles
Advanced short take-
off vertical landing
combat aircraft: part 2 –
the powerplant
installation
Howard Smith
The author
Howard Smith is Course Director for the Aerospace
Vehicle Design MSc course in the Department of Aero-
space Technology, College of Aeronautics, Cranfield
University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, UK.
Abstract
Reports on the MSc group design project of students at the
College of Aeronautics aerospace vehicle design in 1995.
The students worked on advanced short take-off and
vertical landing of a combat aircraft. Part 2 reports on
powerplant installation and associated systems.
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · pp. 3–18
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0002-2667
3
Of the wide spectrum of aircraft configura-
tions, both military and civil, the most diffi-
cult to design are, without doubt, the VTOL
(vertical take-off and landing) and STOVL
(short take-off and vertical landing) combat
aircraft. If the aircraft is also required to be
supersonic, stealthy and capable of aircraft
carrier operations, the challenges posed are
intimidating.
It was this challenge that faced the College
of Aeronautics aerospace vehicle design
(AVD) students[1-20], as they were tasked
with designing an advanced short take-off
vertical landing (ASTOVL) (see Figure 1)
combat aircraft to replace the BAe Harrier
Jump Jet.
The group (usually consisting of some 15-
25 students, many with significant industrial
or airforce experience) work as a team, with
considerable staff supervision and involve-
ment. While working as a team, each member
is responsible for a particular aircraft compo-
nent or system area.
For a combat aircraft to be capable of
hovering it must have an extremely high
thrust-to-weight ratio. This can only be
accomplished by installing a powerful, and
hence large, jet engine into a compact, light-
weight airframe.
This requirement gives rise to packaging
constraints that must ensure that the centre of
gravity movement can be balanced by the
thrust lift vector in the hover and wing lift in
flight, that there is room for the air intakes to
reach the engine and that there is sufficient
room for fuel, weapons and all the other
aircraft systems. This engine also creates a
hostile environment for the airframe structure
in terms of thermal and acoustic effects as
discussed in [21]. Having positioned the
engine within the airframe it must also be
possible to remove it quickly and easily to
facilitate maintenance.
This paper reports on powerplant installa-
tion and associated systems.
Derivation of requirement
The aircraft, and most significantly its power-
plant, is defined by the requirement implied
by two basic roles that it is intended to fulfil
and by a series of point performance require-
ments.
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2 Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Howard Smith Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18

Figure 1 The ASTOVL combat aircraft

Design missions • 2 × AIM-132 ASRAAM missiles;

The two basic roles that the aircraft is • 1 × 20mm M61 A1 Vulcan gun with 400
required to fulfil are offensive support and air rounds of ammunition.
superiority.
Air superiority
Offensive support An air superiority mission would involve the
An offensive support mission would involve following manoeuvres:
the following manoeuvres: (1) Warm-up; taxi (five minutes at ground
(1) Warm-up; taxi (five minutes at ground idle) and short take-off.
idle); short take-off and climb to a height (2) Accelerate and climb to best cruise alti-
of 80m. tude and Mach number (BCAM).
(2) Accelerate to Mach 0.6. (3) Cruise at BCAM for 235nm.
(3) Outboard cruise at 80m and Mach 0.6 for (4) Accelerate at maximum power to Mach
130nm. 1.5 at 30,000ft.
(4) Penetration at 80m and Mach 0.8 for (5) Supersonic combat at Mach 1.5 and
60nm. 30,000ft (fire two AMRAAM, then one
(5) Fire four Maverick missiles at 80m and 360-degree, 3g sustained turn).
Mach 0.9 over two minutes. (6) Subsonic combat at Mach 0.9 and sea
(6) Subsonic combat (four 360-degree turns level (two 360-degree, 8g sustained turns,
at Mach 0.9; at sea level fire two firing two AMRAAMs, two ASRAAMs
ASRAAMs and expend ammunition). and expending all ammunition).
(7) Egress at 80m and Mach 0.8 for 60nm. (7) Minimum fuel climb to BCAM.
(8) Return cruise at 80m and Mach 0.6 for (8) Return to base at BCAM for 235nm.
130nm. (9) One minute hover out of ground-effect
(9) One minute hover out of ground-effect followed by a vertical landing with 5 per
followed by a vertical landing with 5 per cent internal fuel remaining on entering
cent internal fuel remaining on entering the hover. (Assume an instantaneous
the hover. (Assume an instantaneous transition into the hover.)
transition into the hover.)
The air superiority weapons load would
The offensive support weapons load would consist of:
consist of: • 2 × AIM-132 ASRAAM missiles;
• 4 × AGM-65 Maverick missiles; • 4 × AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles;
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 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2 Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Howard Smith Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18

• 1 × 20mm M61 A1 Vulcan gun with 400 When engines are required to operate over
rounds of ammunition. wide ranges of flight speed and altitudes, this
compromise becomes progressively more
Point performance requirements difficult, because to be able to achieve all the
These are as follows: required mission criteria, the engine designer
(1) Level flight performance: has to accept certain penalties at each operat-
• Mach 1.1 at sea level (maximum ing point. As the range of operating condi-
reheat); tions increases, the penalties become progres-
• Mach 1.2 at 11km (maximum dry); sively larger. To overcome partly these penal-
• Mach 1.6 at 11km (maximum reheat). ties, the engine flexibility can be increased by
(2) Sustained turn rates: employing the variable cycle engine (VCE)
• 16 degrees per second (deg/s) at Mach concept. This requires hardware that will
0.5 and sea level; operate with radically different thermody-
• 11 deg/s at Mach 0.9 and sea level; namic cycles at different operating points.
• 12 deg/s at Mach 0.9 and 6km; The most common example of such an engine
• 8 deg/s at Mach 1.2 and 6km. is the afterburning turbo-jet or turbo-fan. The
(3) Instantaneous turn rate: 22 deg/s at Mach afterburner provides large thrust increases for
0.55 and 3km. relatively short periods of time at the expense
(4) Specific excess power: of high specific fuel consumption (SFC).
• 150 m/s at Mach 1.4 and 9km; When supersonic cruise at Mach 1.5 to 2 is
• 300 m/s at Mach 0.9 and sea level; considered, the afterburning engine becomes
• 190 m/s at Mach 0.9 and 6km. very expensive in terms of SFC. In this case a
(5) Field performance: jet engine operating in the “dry” mode
• Short take-off ground roll of 125m on becomes very attractive. This engine can be a
dry concrete at ISA (international turbo-jet or a low bypass turbo-fan. When the
standard atmosphere) +15°C; full aircraft is required to operate at subsonic
internal fuel and weapons load appro- speeds, the best option is a high bypass ratio
priate to mission; zero wind condi- turbo-fan because it gives good fuel economy.
tions. The selective bleed engine used by the
• Vertical landing at the landing mass project is a jet engine which has been designed
appropriate to the mission at ISA to achieve two widely differing missions.
+15°C and in head winds from zero to These missions require good SFC at low flight
10m/s. Mach numbers and supersonic cruise at
Mach 1.6 with a dry engine. To achieve these
goals, the engine has two modes of operation
Aircraft leading dimensions
– the low pressure (LP) mode and the high
These are as follows: pressure (HP) mode. The nomenclature
(1) Dimensions, external: indicates the pressure of the bypass flow. In
• wing span – 12.08m; the LP mode the bypass flow is split from the
• wing aspect ratio – 3.0; core flow at the LP compressor delivery, while
• length overall – 18.25m; in the HP mode it is split from the intermedi-
• foreplane span – 8.18m; ate pressure (IP) compressor delivery.
• foreplane aspect ratio – 2.45; The selective bleed jet engine is a two-
• fin span (twin canted) – 65°. spool engine (see Figure 2). It has two com-
(2) Areas: pressors in the LP spool and one compressor
• wing area 48.64m2; in the HP spool. These compressors are the
• foreplane area 5.3m2; LP, IP and HP compressors respectively. Each
• fin area (per fin) 6.3m2. spool is driven by its turbine, the HP turbine
drives the HP compressor and the LP turbine
drives the IP and LP compressors.
Design
For subsonic speeds the bypass and the
Powerplant core flow will be split immediately down-
The selective bleed variable cycle engine stream of the LP compressor; this is the LP
The design of an aircraft engine is a compro- mode of operation with the LP valve open and
mise between the various operational require- the HP valve closed. In these circumstances
ments of the mission it is expected to fulfil. the engine will operate as a turbo-fan with a
5
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2 Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Howard Smith Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18

Figure 2 The selective bleed variable cycle engine

bypass ratio of 1, i.e. with a high mass flow, Table I Design point engine characteristics
low SFC and low specific thrust; these charac-
LP mode HP mode
teristics being suited to subsonic flight condi-
tions. The high bypass mass flow will also give Altitude (km) 0 6
a good thrust split between cold and hot Mach number 0 1.2
(front and rear) streams, a precondition of TET (K) 1500 1800
V/STOL operations. In the LP mode the jets Reheat temperature (K) N/A 2000
will be discharged through separate front and Fan pressure ratio 3 6.2
rear nozzles. One of the constraints imposed Comp. pressure ratio 8.7 4.1
on the engine has been a jet temperature limit Bypass ratio 1 0.4
of 1000K during the V/STOL operating Mass flow (kg/s) 331 243
modes to minimize ground erosion problems. Thrust (kN) 173 134
For supersonic cruise, a cycle with high spe- Specific thrust (m/s) 524 552
cific thrust will be required. This is achieved SFC design (kb/MNs) 16 31
in the HP mode by reducing the bypass ratio Front/rear thrust split 0.7 N/A
to 0.4 and increasing the bypass flow pressure
ratio. The split between bypass and core flows were simulated with the Turbomatch scheme,
now takes place just downstream of the IP a software system developed at Cranfield
compressor with the LP valve closed and the University which can simulate any type of
HP valve open. The cold and hot flows are open-cycle gas turbine engine. The program
mixed downstream of the bypass duct and the links a series of thermodynamic subroutines,
core and are then discharged through a each representing a different engine compo-
common nozzle. The engine is now a mixing nent such as a compressor or turbine. Each
turbo-fan with a low bypass ratio, a cycle subroutine takes specific input data and
suitable for supersonic cruise. The engine has results from previous subroutines to calculate
an afterburner fitted to it, for conditions such output data. The program calculates the full
as combat, where a thrust boost is required. range of engine performance parameters both
The design point engine characteristics are for the design point and, using simultaneous
shown in Table I. iteration techniques to calculate residual
The design point, off-design performance errors, for off-design performance. During
and optimization of the selective bleed engine the preparation process of input files, some
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 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2 Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Howard Smith Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18

standard values were required and they were The overall performance of the engine is
selected as follows: predicted to be significantly better than that of
• inlet conditions – ISA; a conventional turbo-fan. Although some of
• compressor isentropic efficiency – 88 per the penalties (such as additional weight and
cent; handling problems) have still to be assessed,
• combustion total pressure loss – 3 per cent; there is certainly plenty of interest in VCEs for
• combustion efficiency – 100 per cent; a number of different applications around the
• turbine isentropic efficiency – 90 per cent; world. For this project a number of mission
• pressure loss in unheated duct – 2 per cent; profiles were examined; the savings in fuel
• pressure loss in reheated duct – 3 per cent; consumption were in the range of 9-18 per
• reheat combustion efficiency – 90 per cent. cent. If the supersonic cruise (Mach 1.5) is
isolated, the selective bleed engine is approxi-
The compressor design parameters can be
mately 50 per cent more efficient than a stan-
seen in Table II.
The transition from LP to HP modes of dard turbo-fan.
operation will require special attention to the Air intakes
transient performance of the engine. Some Shock system. Jet engines, being an air breath-
investigation has been carried out and it has ing propulsion system, require a sufficient
been ascertained that the speed changes would supply of air in order to function. This air
be relatively small during the transition. This is must be flowing at a speed considerably less
important because it means that these tran- than the speed of sound when it enters the
sients can be completed relatively quickly. engine. While this presents no problem for an
Although there appear to be no major prob- aircraft flying at subsonic speeds, for a super-
lems during the transition phase, there are sonic aircraft it implies that the air must be
some questions of detail still to be analysed, decelerated as it enters the air intakes. This is
such as the correct choice, synchronization usually achieved by allowing one or more
and implementation of the control schedules. shock waves to form. As the air passes through
These are the fuel flow, variable stator setting a shock wave, it is decelerated. The shock
of two compressors and the scheduling of the waves may be inside or outside the intake,
valve areas. The valves will have to be co- depending on the cruise Mach number. In
ordinated very carefully. As one of them is this case it will be external.
opening, the other one is closing. This change Three inlets types were considered: the
of area at the compressor outlet will have to be Pitot (a simple circular opening as found on
co-ordinated in such a way that there will be an the Boeing 747 engine nacelle); the fixed
adequate safety margin and that the right level deflection (here the intake is at an angle, thus
of compressor pressure ratio will be retained. resulting in a deflected shock wave which
decelerates the air more efficiently); and the
Table II Compressor design parameters fixed shock angle intake (which can decelerate
the air efficiently at a variety of Mach num-
Parameter LP IP HP bers) as used on the RAF Tornado.
Number of stages 5 7 7 There is no real difference between the
Pressure ratio 3 3.13 3.96 three speeds of below Mach 1.3.
RPM (LP mode) 4450 4450 9500 The Pitot intake, while being simple, is
RPM (HP mode) 4450 4450 10000 very inefficient at decelerating air at speeds
Inlet tip diameter (m) 1.59 1.32 0.74 above Mach 1.4 and thus was rejected. The
Outlet tip diameter (m) 1.32 1.11 0.74 fixed shock angle intake is complex (and thus
Inlet hub diameter (m) 0.69 0.92 0.55 heavy and expensive) and yet not that much
Outlet hub diameter (m) 0.94 0.92 0.68 more efficient than the fixed deflection intake.
Radial equilibrium solution Free vortex Free vortex Free vortex Thus the fixed deflection intake was selected
Inlet tip speed (m/s) 367 308 388.1 (see Figure 3).
Rel rotor tip inlet Mach no. 1.27 0.92 0.95 So as to optimize the shock system thor-
Annulus geometry Constant Constant Constant oughly, the effect of the subsonic duct on the
mean rad hub rad tip rad overall pressure recovery had to be taken into
Inlet total pressure (Atm) 1 2.35 7.36 account, as well as the impact of varying mass
Inlet total temperature (K) 288 406.8 580.3 and varying altitude. The best compromise
Length (m) 1.28 0.75 0.46 was eventually to optimize the ramp for flight
7
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2
Howard Smith
Figure 3 Fixed deflection intake
at maximum landing mass, Mach 1.6,
36,000ft, with a deflection angle of about
eight degrees.
The S-95 aircraft is intended to be stealthy,
i.e. have a low radar cross-section. One ele-
ment affecting stealth is the number of edges
that generate strong radar returns, such as
wing leading and trailing edges. To minimize
the number of directions in which radar is
returned – the wing, canard and fin edges are
all aligned to the same angle. Similarly the
intake edges are aligned to those of the wing.
Throat sizing. The critical throat area was
determined in various flight cases, and the
biggest value gave the minimum size for which
the intake would allow enough air mass flow in
any flight condition (speed, altitude, throttle
setting). This value was 1.51m2 at Mach 0.8,
30,000ft and maximum power setting. (These
conditions will be referred to as design point 1.)
Simultaneously, the intake must also be
able to operate at Mach 1.6, which requires an
intake area of 0.943m2 (referred to as design
point 2). If the intake is too large at Mach 1.6,
air will “spill” back out of the intake causing
the so-called spillage drag.
The way out of the contradiction between
design point 1 and design point 2 was to have
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18
both an auxiliary intake, which would allow
for extra mass flow rate in subsonic flight at
high power settings, and a bypass duct, which
would divert some air from the main duct in
supersonic flight.
In order to minimize the losses associated
with the extra air admitted in the intake in
supersonic flight, it was arbitrarily decided
that the main throat area should not be larger
than 1.1 times the area corresponding to
design point 2, i.e. 1.04m2.
Given the arrangement of the nose fuse-
lage, the size of the doors that can actually be
fitted between two frames is about 0.35m2.
The maximum throat area with doors was
eventually 1.04 + 0.35 = 1.39m2. These
auxiliary doors can be seen in Figure 3.
That is sufficient to cope with the air mass
flow in the hover, but the throat will be slightly
undersized in some subsonic and supersonic
cases. In these cases, the pilot has the option
either to switch to HP mode and use the after-
burner to get some extra thrust at the expense
of fuel consumption or to fly in LP mode.
For tactical reasons, the pilot may not have
time to switch to HP. In that case, the only
option he would have would be to use the
maximum available power in LP.
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2
Howard Smith
If this design point was to be the final one,
the flight control computer would have to be
very carefully programmed for high turbine
entry temperatures settings, so that the air did
not achieve supersonic speeds downstream of
the throat.
Auxiliary doors. These doors provide the
necessary auxiliary throat area for subsonic
engine operation, especially in the hover. The
doors were fitted between 5.0m and 5.5m
from the aircraft’s nose. The presence of the
gun in this region and the constraint imposed
by the nose fuselage’s structure made it neces-
sary to split the doors, so that there are three
of them on each side.
Because the doors may need to be open in
subsonic flight, each door is fitted with its own
hydraulic actuator. The resulting design is
rather heavy, but has the advantage of provid-
ing redundancy if one door fails, which brings
the probability of overall auxiliary door failure
to a very low level.
The complicated shape of the auxiliary
duct made it impossible to have hinged blow-
in doors, as on the Harrier, and consequently
imposed the need to have sliding doors. As far
as the aerodynamic load on the door is con-
cerned, this is probably beneficial as it acts in
the same direction as the actuator and hence
reduces the actuator’s weight, but it takes
more space.
As far as the connection with the main duct
is concerned, hinged passive doors were
preferred, because of their low weight and
simplicity.
Bypass scoop. Dumping air overboard was
not an easy task, given the level of integration
of the intake in the airframe. For convenience
purposes, it was decided not to dump it
immediately after it is diverted from the main
stream – which would have called for a ventral
bypass door, which is bad for stealth and not
particularly good for drag – but to use the
engine’s top bypass duct. This device is not
used in supersonic flight, and it is precisely in
supersonic operation that bypass will be
needed.
Moreover, dumping air through a rear
outlet is probably more beneficial in terms of
drag than dumping it through a side outlet,
which is the case in other installations.
The connection between the intake bypass
duct and the engine bypass duct is achieved
using a simple butterfly valve, electrically
actuated. The connection between the intake
main duct and the bypass duct will be con-
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18
trolled by a sliding door, driven by a hydraulic
actuator.
Even though it represents an increase in
weight and a loss in reliability, the bypass
scoop will have two positive effects:
(1) selectively closing these doors, it will
allow for active control of the engine
surge and intake critical operation;
(2) the air that is bypassed in supersonic
flight can be used for cooling purposes, in
particular it provides some cold air to the
afterburner, hence reducing the infrared
(IR) signature in supersonic flight.
Intake duct design. It was decided to go for a
circular cross-section, which means optimum
performance – the wetted perimeter to cross-
section ratio is minimum. The duct shape will
then vary in the following ways:
• after the throat: rectangular (imposed by
the throat shape, itself imposed by stealth);
• between 1.04 m2 and 1.45m2: transition
between rectangular and circular cross-
section;
• between 1.45m2 and the fan face: constant
increase in cross-section. The duct section
remains circular all along the duct.
The effect of the auxiliary intake also had to
be taken into account: the cross-sectional area
immediately after the auxiliary intake/main
duct connection has to be sized for the very
significant extra-mass flow rate that the auxil-
iary doors bring while open. This means than
once the auxiliary doors are closed, there is a
strong increase in cross-sectional area at this
location of the duct. This must not be neglect-
ed, since it may cause a shock wave in the
subsonic diffuser.
In order to hide the LP compressor blades,
two flat plates were fitted in the vane. They
are supposed to reflect the radar waves enter-
ing in the intake, so that no electromagnetic
signal is reflected by the fan blades. This will
also have a beneficial effect since it stiffens the
duct structure, and provides the fan blades
with protection against bird strikes.
Variable lips. The intake design must be
efficient at zero forward speed (in the Hover)
and at Mach 1.6. The problem is that an inlet
designed for subsonic purposes will have a
poor pressure recovery over Mach 1.3, and a
supersonic inlet will meet major problems of
flow separation, and hence flow distortion at
the engine face and high pressure losses in
zero-forward-speed conditions.
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2
Howard Smith
A device that would allow the lip to be
sharp in supersonic cruise and gently blunted
during the hover would help to minimize this
problem. But the actual need for this system is
not clearly established.
The only operational STOVL aircraft, the
BAe Harrier, is subsonic, so we do not gain
any benefit from the design work performed
on its early versions. In particular, the absence
of any variable lip, which nevertheless was a
feature of the initial design, is not very rele-
vant, since the design Mach number is signifi-
cantly lower than it is for the S-95.
It may be necessary to have it anyway, in
order to be conservative.
Two solutions were considered for the
variable lip: an inflated rubber lip and a
mechanical lip.
An inflated rubber lip was fitted on the P-
1127. Even though it worked satisfactorily
during the hovering trials, troubles arose as
high speed tests begun. At high speeds, when
the rubber lips were sucked down to the
conventional high speed cowl shape, the
rubber would ripple, and some cases of
rubber tearing were encountered. This
implied that aerodynamic suction on the
outside of the lip sometimes exceeded suction
provided inside the rubber. This problem of
rubber lip tearing is bound to be all the more
critical for the S-95 in that its design speed is
much higher than the Harrier’s.
For that reason, another option – the
mechanical lip – was considered. The conclu-
sion of this preliminary study was that the
mechanically actuated lip is probably better
suited to the task than the rubber one, and it
can be hoped that the slight weight penalty it
creates will be compensated by its better
performance.
Computational fluid dynamics on the air
intake. The object of this part of the work was
to apply computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
as a design tool, by using RAMPANT, a
commercial package. It was decided to go for
an Euler (inviscid), 2D calculation, using an
unstructured mesh, which is easy and fast to
set up. The intention was mainly to simulate
the shock system at the inlet, in the Mach 1.6,
36,000ft flight case. For that purpose, 2D
models representing the aircraft/intake in side
view were set up.
The grid generator used was PreBFC. This
software has the advantage of being easy to
use, even though not user-friendly. It allows
the generation of 2D geometries and
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
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unstructured grids rapidly, and was found
quite convenient after a few tries.
Two different lip shapes were tried, one of
them sharp, and the other one slightly blunted
– 25mm radius of curvature.
The CFD analysis did not give particularly
conclusive results: the effect of the engine
suction (i.e. imposed air mass flow rate in the
duct) on the shock system was not simulated,
and the Mach number in the duct turned out
to be higher than 1.
However, this work gave a reasonable
estimation of the compression effect of the
nose fuselage, and illustrated the non-unifor-
mity of the flow entering the intake. Besides, it
provided a visual understanding of what the
actual shock system was going to be, and
helped to understand fully the difference
between the simple, idealized model that was
used to design the inlet and the actual, com-
plex, real-life situation.
This does not mean that CFD provides the
ultimate level of accuracy in the prediction of
the flow field – especially not in that case,
because the fluid was assumed inviscid – but
in most of the cases, it is still closer to the
physical solution than any hand calculation
can be.
Engine mountings
Physical arrangement of the mountings. The
engine mountings design had to be driven by
two constraints :
(1) The amount of space available around the
engine is limited: at the compressor face,
the engine sides are occupied by the front
nozzles’ ducts, and all along the engine,
on its top and bottom, are the bypass
ducts.
(2) It is necessary to have an isostatic assem-
bly, in order to avoid residual stress due to
thermal effects, and to make the engine
installation possible.
But apart from these constraints, as there is
no detailed design of the engine casing, the
mountings are located where convenient.
In many recent military aircraft designs,
the engine is attached to the airframe with two
sets of attachments, one of them, in the vicini-
ty of the engine’s centre of gravity (CG),
taking most of the loads. The design of the S-
95 engine mountings was influenced by this
habit: it was decided to have two trunnions,
one on each side, near the engine CG, and
another attachment at the bottom of the
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2
Howard Smith
engine, either near the compressor face or
near the engine’s rear end.
Given the solution adopted for the engine
removal, it was not possible to locate the
trunnions on the top half of the engine.
The main fuselage frames are located at
10.38m and 10.935m, and the engine CG sits
right in the middle at 10.63m.
The two possible arrangements were then,
assuming that the engine CG had to be locat-
ed between both sets of mounts:
(1) To fix the trunnions on the 10.935m
frame. Then, assuming the third attach-
ment has to be as far as possible from the
first two, it will have to be attached on the
9.3m frame.
(2) To fix the trunnions on the 10.38m
frame, and the third attachment on the
12.504m frame.
Mountings preliminary design. The main trun-
nions were chosen to be of the spherical type.
The main advantage of the sphere is that it
allows for a good distribution of stress, and
makes the parts lighter.
For the third attachment, which is not
heavily loaded, a lug was adopted. The initial
intention was to have a double lug, in order to
provide some redundancy, but it was found
that the double lug would be subjected to
torsion about the Z-axis, whereas the simple
lug, thanks to a spherical bearing, could avoid
it.
The way the engine loads are shared
between the attachments is as follows: the
thrust is transmitted to the airframe through
the main trunnions. Since the frame on which
the trunnions sit cannot take longitudinal
loads, the thrust should be transmitted to a
longeron through a strut. Since the actual
design does not have that feature, this implies
that the frame on which the attachments are
located needs to be considerably reinforced,
in order to transmit the load to the neighbour-
ing longerons. The side loads are taken by the
starboard main trunnion. The vertical loads
(inertia loads) are mainly taken by the trun-
nions, but part of them is also transmitted to
the third attachment. This design allows for
sideways and lengthways thermal expansion
of the engine, and so no important thermal-
induced stress is expected.
The loads calculations show that the high-
est forces on the main attachments were
occurring in the first configuration (arrange-
ment (1) mentioned above). In order to share
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the load as equally as possible, it would then
be sensible to go for the other solution. How-
ever, the other main trunnions’ location is
much closer to the combustor, and hence the
deterioration of the material properties at high
temperatures is likely to be a serious issue.
Moreover, since it is an area where thermal
expansion is important, fatigue problems due
to cyclic thermal expansion may arise. In
order to be on the safe side, this solution was
eventually discarded.
Powered lift and reaction control system
Purpose of the medium pressure (MP) valve. In
the initial concept, the aircraft was to fly in the
LP mode by blowing hot air through the rear
nozzle and cold air through the proposed
forward nozzle which, for this purpose, could
be deflected rearwards. This created a
number of problems in the structure of the
aircraft, which would experience high vibra-
tions well up to the pressure mode change
velocity; in addition to the fact that air blown
through the forward nozzle below the fuselage
could attach itself to the fuselage creating
dangerous low pressure areas and thus unex-
pected pitching moments, and loss of thrust.
It was thus decided to study the feasibility of
diverting the air through the main rear nozzle
or a bypass around it for LP cruise. There
were a number of aspects that the system
should be able to perform. These were:
• Totally close the bypass duct/s for the
engine to operate in the HP mode.
• Open the forward ducts while leaving the
rear bypass ducts closed.
• Open the rear bypass ducts while leaving
the forward ducts closed.
The valve that was designed can fulfil all these
plus the fact that due to the low pressure loads
on it, the power required to actuate it is very
low.
General description of the valve. In its sim-
plest form the valve is just a section tube
(1,650 × 33mm) that fits on to the main
engine case. It has two rectangular shaped LP
exits on opposite sides and offset to one of the
ends of the valve. The engine inner casing has
four of these windows, which have exactly the
same dimensions as those in the valve placed
between the LP compressor and the IP com-
pressor; since one sits on top of the other, only
two of the possible exits will be fully opened at
any given time. However, as the valve rotates
from one position to another, the four possi-
ble exits will be partially opened/closed.
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2
Howard Smith
On the outer part of the valve, attached to
the engine outer casing, there are four ducts;
two of them deliver air from the engine to the
forward two nozzles (these are placed on the
sides of the engine), and the other two, which
are called the bypass ducts, deliver air from
the engine to the rear nozzle; these are placed
on top and bottom of the engine.
Rotation of this valve is achieved by four
electrical motors, which will always be actuat-
ed at the same time, but for safety reasons
they will be interconnected in pairs, and in
the event of failure of one of these intercon-
nected pairs, the other could still rotate the
valve with the minimum speed and accuracy
required.
This rotation will be of 90 degrees, but in
order to avoid excessive wear on one side and
not on the other, the valve will be rotated
Figure 4 The MP valve
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alternatively to one side and then the other; as
the valve is perfectly symmetrical, this should
not have any effect on the performance of the
valve.
Apart from rotating to change from the LP
cruise to the Hover mode, the valve can also
slide along the engine (by about 31cm); this
allows all the LP exits to be closed and thus
making the engine operate in the high pres-
sure mode. To achieve this, four pneumatical-
ly-operated actuators are provided and they
are interconnected in the same way as the
electric motors.
Figure 4 shows the way in which the elec-
tric and pneumatic actuators will be connect-
ed for redundancy, and how the error com-
parator will feed back to the engine manage-
ment unit, which in turn should be connected
to the flight control system (FCS).
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2
Howard Smith
It needs to be mentioned that for this last
operation, the MP valve must be coupled to
the internal valve of the engine which means
that when one of the valves is 80 per cent open,
the other is 80 per cent closed and vice versa.
The pilot will not have any direct control
over the rotation of the valve; he/she will only
be able to select the flight mode, and the FCS
will send the appropriate information to the
actuators. Control of the sliding motion
(transfer from LP mode to HP mode and vice
versa) was originally intended to be an auto-
matic process that would start when the Mach
number exceeded 0.9, but in close combat
situations it will become necessary to engage
the afterburner as and when required, so the
pilot will have an override switch that will
allow him to operate the engine in the HP
mode if required.
Assembly and maintenance of the valve. Its
assembly is simple: over the inner engine
casing the valve can be fitted from the front
end, and then the forward engine mounting
assembly can be fitted; to remove the sequence
is reversed. As all the actuators can be replaced
without removing the valve, the only operation
that would require removal of the whole valve
is the seal replacement. In order to do this, the
engine has to be out of the aircraft, and the
engine-to-frame front mounting assembly
would have to be removed.
This operation should not be required
unless the engine is being serviced, because as
this valve is not constantly moving and all the
movement will take place over a smooth
protected surface, seal wear is expected to be
low and its replacement should be done more
as a matter of prevention than correction.
General description of the forward ducts and
nozzles. There are two ducts (see Figure 5)
that connect the horizontally placed rectangu-
lar LP exits on the engine with the two front
nozzles; these ducts run in parallel to the
engine intakes, and in order to reduce vibra-
tions, they are attached to main frame compo-
nents on rubber mountings.
The duct is made of composite material
(AS4-3K carbon fibre with PEEK Matrix)
which has a low coefficient of expansion so
the thermal stresses on the mounting points
are low, plus the variation in internal duct area
is negligible; it also has a high fatigue life, and
can cope with the maximum temperatures,
internal pressures and the cyclic loads that
can be expected during normal operating
conditions; these ducts are only used during
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18
Figure 5 Forward ducts and nozzles
landing. The fibres are longitudinally orien-
tated in the inner side of the ducts so as to
take the longitudinal stresses, and on the
outer side, the fibres will be set at 45 degrees
to take the pressure loads. The duct will be
split into three sections so that they will have
four attachment points: engine LP exits,
nozzles and two points to the airframe.
The different sections will be joined
together by means of four brackets made of
metal that will carry the loads and will distrib-
ute them across the whole duct flange to avoid
large stress concentrations at these points.
Between the ducts there will be a silicone-
rubber gasket; and the mount to the airframe
will also be fitted to the brackets.
Air flows through these ducts only when
the nozzle selector lever is set to either “45˚
VFM [vertical flight mode]” or “hover”, and
it is an essential condition that the nozzle
covers are opened.
Nozzles. The front nozzles are very similar
to those fitted to the AV-8A (two vanes and a
small scarf angle), the only difference being
that these nozzles cannot blow air rearwards,
because, due to its angular settings, any air
blown backwards would “attach” to the fuse-
lage creating low pressure areas, which could
lead to turbulence and thus destabilize the
aircraft.
So rotation of these nozzles is restricted
from –95˚ to 45˚. They do not rotate any
further forward, since the hot air from the
nozzles would be reingested through the
intakes and into the engine; this would reduce
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2
Howard Smith
engine efficiency and could even cause it to
stall.
These nozzles are covered by two plates
made of the same material as the rest of the
fuselage; this reduces drag, improves the
stealth characteristics of the aircraft, and
provides the nozzles with some degree of
protection against light ground fire that could
damage the actuation mechanism. These
covers are opened only when the hover selec-
tor lever is set to “45˚ VFM” or “hover”
modes. As soon as they are opened, the FCS
will rotate the MP valve to allow air to flow
through the ducts to the nozzles.
The pilot can only select a flight mode (LP
cruise, 45˚ VFM or hover), and the FCS,
depending on load conditions, aircraft atti-
tude, etc., will rotate the nozzles to the best
angle setting. For example, if the pilot sets the
nozzles to 45˚, the computer will decide
whether it is better to set them at 47˚ or 48˚,
or any other angle that would best suit the
flight mode selected.
Owing to the lack of space, the nozzles had
to be designed with a scarf angle of about 5˚,
and where positioned at 25˚ with respect to
the vertical. This is not the best configuration,
but because of time constraints, it was decid-
ed to adopt this system.
Each nozzle is electrically actuated by two
motors, and the FCS can rotate them inde-
pendently and even at different speeds if
necessary.
General description of the rear nozzle. The
original design of the S-95 had a counter-
rotating nozzle of the type fitted to the Yak
141. Although this has already been proven in
service, it would have created some major
design problems in the S-95, such as concen-
trated loads very close to the engine mounts;
owing to the short distance between aircraft
datum line and the ground, some kind of
protection would be required for the nozzle
during hover which did not allow for thrust
vectoring, etc. The proposed nozzle was thus
redesigned to be able to meet the hovering
requirements, but with flying performance its
main priority.
The nozzle consists of two thick, vertically
placed titanium plates parallel to each other
with some cross members made of the same
materials to give it and the frames attached to
the nozzle some structural integrity (see
Figure 6). In the inside of the nozzle, there are
some deflector plates that pivot about careful-
ly determined points on the two main vertical
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18
Figure 6 Rear nozzle
plates; the internal deflectors are arranged in
such a way that they can be deflected to pro-
vide no thrust deflection for cruise: down-
wards (90˚) for hover and at 45˚ deflection for
transitioning or below-the-stall-speed con-
trolled flight (VFM).
Actuation of some of the internal deflector
plates is achieved by means of pneumatic
actuators fed with air from the reaction con-
trol system (RCS) (mounted internally to
drive the two main deflectors), and some
others with air from the ordinary pneumatic
system. These are placed on the outside of the
vertical plates, because of the safety factors.
The loads that some of the plates must carry
is large, and because of the high temperatures,
the actuators themselves will need to be
cooled down to a reasonable working temper-
ature.
At the end of the main nozzle, there is a
conventional 2D convergent-divergent (CD)
nozzle that will increase manoeuvrability; it
was adapted for use in this aircraft (standard
2D CD nozzles provide thrust reversing, but
because of the bypass ducts on top and
bottom of the main nozzle in the S-95, this
feature cannot be used and was removed from
the design).
The running temperatures of this nozzle
during the LP mode cruise will be reduced
compared to previous designs, this is mainly
due to the bypass air above and below the
main nozzle that will cool some of the main
nozzle components.
Actuation requirements. Forces on some of
the plates could, in some circumstances, be
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2
Howard Smith
high, and the ordinary pneumatic system
could not provide enough power to actuate
them, so some of the nozzle actuators will
have to be connected to the RCS, which will
not be used when deploying the nozzle.
High temperatures. There are many ceramic
materials that can withstand the elevated
temperatures likely to be encountered; the
problem with this nozzle is the variations in
temperature. These variations can cause
internal thermal-originated stresses, which
can lead to a shorter life of the components,
ineffective seals, and ultimately the sudden
loss of the component.
The nozzle is covered inside by ceramic
plates (zirconia stabilized with magnesia
ZrO2/MgO) which have no problems in
coping with the high temperatures. These are
then supported by a thin grid made of molyb-
denum high temperature alloy, better known
as TZM (Mo99/Ti0.5/Zr0.1/), the primary
function of which is to distribute the flow-
originated stresses from the ceramic plates to
the titanium links that will rotate the compo-
nents.
Although not all the plates need to be
heavily protected against the high tempera-
tures, it was considered that having all the
plates made in the same form would lower the
maintenance costs.
Between the bypass ducts and the main
nozzle, there will be a constant flow of air for
cooling when the engine is operating in the
HP mode; in the LP mode, the bypass ducts
are expected to cool down the main nozzle.
Advantages of this nozzle design. The nozzle
is far heavier than it was before, but because it
can carry some loads, there is a reduction in
airframe weight, and as it is also part of the
fuselage, some weight is saved here as well.
This saving will nearly offset the extra weight.
Other advantages include the following:
• A standard 2D GE nozzle can be fitted to
it; this has been proven to increase thrust
by about 2 per cent with the added advan-
tage that it can be deflected by ±25˚, which
would give the aircraft extra capabilities in
close combat.
• The IR signature of the aircraft is reduced,
because there is some cool (bypass) air
passing over and below the main hot air
exhaust, thus bringing the total exhaust
temperature down.
• As a consequence of the above, as the air
leaving the hot nozzle is mixed with the air
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18
from the cold nozzle, the total noise emis-
sions from the engine are reduced.
• As the 2D GE nozzle needs some side
plates to allocate its actuators, these were
extended and now provide a heat shield for
the tail booms.
• Two plates on the top and bottom of the
nozzle, which are also part of the fuselage,
form the bypass nozzle that will close when
the engine operates in the HP mode, thus
reducing drag, and can also be used as air-
brakes to reduce the speed of the aircraft.
Disadvantages. It does not operate throughout
95˚ as does those of the Harrier; it has only
three modes of operation: cruise, 45˚ VFM
and hover. Other disadvantages include the
following:
• As all the components need to be rotated
accurately, control by the FCS becomes
necessary.
• As this nozzle has many moving compo-
nents, there is a higher risk of system fail-
ure.
• The design is completely new.
General description of the RCS. As the three
main nozzles provide the aircraft with a fair
degree of control, the RCS does not require as
much power as that fitted to the Harrier;
however because the aircraft has larger
moments of inertia it is expected that this
RCS will require similar overall performance.
Hot air at high pressure is taken from the
engine, just before it enters the combustion
chambers; below the engine there is a valve
(master butterfly valve) that is electronically
linked to the main forward nozzle covers
which means that sensors on both covers must
return the right signal (covers opened) for the
master butterfly valve to open and the ducts to
be pressurized (see Figure 7).
The FCS will determine the flow rate
needed for each flight condition; this of
course can be overridden by the pilot who will
have a small switch on the nozzle selector
lever that will adjust the flow rate through the
valve if required.
The system consists of three RC
nozzles/valves; two of them are placed in the
wings just before the wing fold line to provide
roll, and the other, which is situated above the
intakes in the aircraft’s centre line, provides
yaw control. Pitch control is achieved by
rotation of the main rear and forward nozzles.
Roll valves. Wing-mounted valves provide
roll to start and stop any lateral movements of
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2
Howard Smith
Figure 7 The reaction control system
the aircraft and are placed just before the wing
fold line and at about 45 per cent chord (see
Figure 8).
These valves work in opposition, which
means that if the port reaction control valve
blows air upwards, the starboard reaction
control valve will blow air downwards and
vice versa. For stealth purposes, they need to
be covered with two metal plates made of the
same material as the wing skin; a pitot probe
will be fitted to these valves and connected to
actuators that will open the valve covers as
soon as the system is pressurized and will keep
them open until the pressure in the system
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
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drops to a specific value when a spring inside
the actuators will bring them back to their
original position.
The covers will work on the same principle
as the extra intake doors fitted to the Harrier;
this means that the actuators will only place
them below the exit hole, and the low pressure
over and under the wing will keep them
closed.
Yaw valves. The final position for the yaw
valve was in the centre line of the aircraft,
behind the cockpit below the avionics bay.
The valve is similar to the roll valves but
without the cover plates or the deflectors;
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2
Howard Smith
instead a duct will deliver the air from the
valve to the outside just above the intake thus
avoiding any hot air reingestion.
Control inputs. Control of the valves is as
follows:
• The front (yaw) RC valve is directly con-
trolled by the pilot by using the pedals; the
FCS will have no control over it.
• Wing-mounted (roll) RC valves are linked
to the ailerons which are controlled by the
FCS. There has been some debate about
whether it would be easier either to link the
valve to the aileron mechanically, as in the
case of the Harrier – only that in this case
the wing is expected to fold, which compli-
cates the transmission of movements – or
to use an extra actuator commanded by the
same aileron signal.
The roll valve covers will be opened by the
pressure inside the duct which will be fed into
the actuators via a pitot probe/feeder. These
actuators will be spring-loaded so that when
there is no internal pressure in the ducts, the
valves will automatically be closed. The spring
load should be such that the covers will
remain closed during every manoeuvre in the
flight envelope. As the actuators are fed via a
pitot probe, the covers will not close owing to
the pressure reduction of the incoming air
when the valves are opened.
Conclusions
The majority of the problems encountered
during this project were directly related to the
powerplant. First, to enable it to perform
efficiently over the wide range of operating
conditions, it was designed to be a
Figure 8 Roll valves
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Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18
sophisticated variable cycle engine. While
improving performance, this led to the need
for a complex system of intake and bypass
ducts. The ASTOVL requirement to feed the
forward lift nozzles with bypassed air and to
deflect the rear nozzle downwards adds to the
complexity.
In addition to the system required to
enable the aircraft to hover, it requires a fur-
ther system to maintain control, this being the
RCS.
As the aircraft operates over a wide range of
speeds and thrust settings the intake ducts
require auxiliary intake doors.
The engine mounting options were con-
strained by the need to remove the engine
vertically.
However, the most difficult problem by far
was the size of the engine. This dominated the
fuselage layout and sizing and exasperated the
problems associated with the topology of the
ducting and other systems. This is in addition
to the thermal and acoustic effects on the
structure.
Given the difficulty of the task, the engi-
neering solution is sound in that, in most
respects, it appears workable. The problem of
engine removal would, in practice, be alleviat-
ed by a second iteration of the overall configu-
ration, perhaps with a high or low wing with
carry-through structure.
Finally, it can be concluded that for this
class of aircraft, time spent on powerplant
considerations at the conceptual level is time
well spent. Decisions made early in the design
process can make or break the aircraft. Even
with a good concept, the powerplant will
always pose difficult engineering problems.
 Advanced short take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 2 Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
Howard Smith Volume 69 · Number 1 · 1997 · 3–18

References 15 Sampson, J.A., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,

1 Agius, J.W., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996, Aft
fuselage.
2 Aunger, D.J., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996, Main
landing gear.
3 Avgouropoulos, G., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,
Inner wing.
4 Belhalfaoui, S., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,
Powerplant.
5 Bower, B.A., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996, Centre
fuselage.
6 Chabilan, O.A.A., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,
Cockpit & avionics.
7 Corbas, N.A., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996, Nose
landing gear.
8 Fillion, A., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996, Out-
board flaps/ailerons.
9 Goldwater, L.J., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,
Weapons system/pallets/ survivability ECM counter-
measure.
10 Loose, L.J.J., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996, Nose
fuselage.
11 Martinez-Elkington, M., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project,
1996, Reaction control systems/ forward nozzle/duct-
ing & aft nozzle.
12 Morgan, J.L., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,
Performance/cost.
13 Müller, L.V., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,
Canard.
14 Salci, H., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996, Fuel
system.
Flight control system/ secondary power.
16 Schoner, N.J., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,
Rudder.
17 Sörensen, R.K., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,
Reliability/maintainability.
18 Syamsudin, H., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,
Outboard wing.
19 Werner, G., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996, Fin.
20 Wright, P.C.J., S-95 ASTOVL Group Project, 1996,
Leading edge flaps.
21 Smith, H., “The structural design of an advanced short
take-off vertical landing combat aircraft – part 1”,
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology,
Vol. 68 No. 6, 1996, pp. 3-17.
Further reading
Cambell, E.M., “An evaluation of the longitudinal stability
and control characteristics of the S-95 ASTOVL
combat aircraft”.
Do Nascimento, M.A.R., “The selective bleed variable cycle
engine ASME 91-GT-388”, paper presented at the
International Gas turbine and Aero-engine Congress
and Expositions, Orlando, Florida, 3-6 June 1991.
Hewson, R., “Conceptual design of an ASTOVL strike
fighter”, MSc thesis, Cranfield University, August
1994.
Rosa, M.R., “Conceptual design of an ASTOVL strike
fighter”, MSc thesis, Cranfield University, August
1995.
Wood, A., “Resizing and integration of a selective bleed
variable cycle engine”, SME MSc thesis, 1996.

18