Unmanned Firefighting Aircraft

Abstract

Project G.O.L.D.S.T.A.R. (Ground Ordered Load Delivery System To Administer Retardant) employs the use of unmanned aircraft technology, a flying wing planform, and the ability to perform more fire retardant drops than any existing aircraft. The major subsystems featured in this design include: a flying wing planform with the wing properties of a cargo plane, forward mounted engines making use of the Coanda effect, a D-nozzle to improve engine characteristics in front of the wing, winglets sized using basic control theory to provide lateral stability, a nozzle system to optimize the flow of fire retardant from the tank to the flow outside of the aircraft, and a central wingbox consisting of the payload tank in combination with the engine pylons and wing spars.