A helicopter design with a turbine rotor drive has been patented in Russia. The design proposes a scheme without a tail boom, tail rotor, and gearbox with an overrunning clutch, which reduces the weight and dimensions of the aircraft, the documents were published in the FIPS database.
According to the patent, the engine air intake passes through the fuselage to its upper part, where a turbine with an outlet to the open space is installed on the rotor drive shaft. Power is transmitted to the rotor by means of a gas-dynamic connection, without direct mechanical transmission.
An air propeller is placed inside the air intake channel, which creates a low pressure zone. Atmospheric air, rushing into this area, acts on the turbine blades and rotates the rotor drive shaft.
As a power plant, the authors proposed an internal combustion engine or an electric motor used to drive the air propeller. This scheme eliminates the use of complex gearboxes and swashplate mechanisms characteristic of coaxial schemes.
The reactive torque of the rotor is balanced by a swiveling nozzle mounted on a hinge behind the air propeller. The nozzle is controlled by control wiring and provides rotation of the helicopter around the vertical axis. Unfortunately, the authors of the development did not present a diagram of the prospective aircraft.
