An Open-Rotor Distributed Propulsion Aircraft Study

The EU-funded SOAR project analyzed the high-lift efficiency of an open-fan wing design by systematic variation of fan blade count and angle. The research project built a cross-flow fan propelled wing section and investigated it by means of fluid dynamic simulation and wind tunnel testing. The experimental data resulting from the wind tunnel model were used to generate non-dimensional parameters which were used to scale data for the full-scale SOAR wing section. Preliminary aircraft design studies have been carried out after mission and market analysis, plus an evaluation of direct operating costs.