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New Ultra Efficient Aircraft Design
and Future Prototype AD-9


 Hutterer Engineering Prototype Jet Design

 

Summary

 A New Innovative
Fuel Efficient Airplane

Hutterer Engineering, Wichita, Kansas, has designed a new 10 seat airplane which has the engineering designation AD-9.  The primary advantage of this aircraft is a 40% reduction in fuel consumption, which is obtained by installing a rear engine/propeller and a front-mounted auxiliary fan jet engine to obtain a “clean” airframe design.  There are other important advantages relating to safety, passenger comfort and operational flexibility. The aircraft design is oriented to the commercial market, although it will also appeal to private and government operators.  The cabin is large relative to the passenger capacity, with space available for a private lavatory.  The large cabin door is designed to facilitate air cargo operations. 

The AD-9 airplane has a single turboprop (turbine engine with a propeller) mounted at the rear in a “pusher” configuration.  The aircraft will therefore look somewhat like a business jet and will also have a quiet cabin. The most innovative feature of this aircraft is the incorporation of a small fan jet engine, mounted in the nose section, ahead of the cabin.  Both Pratt-Whitney and Williams International have recently developed small fan jet engines suitable for this application.  When the fan jet engine is not operating, it is inside the nose section (retracted position).  When it is to be used for takeoff and climb, or in the event of loss of power from the turboprop engine, it is deployed downward to its operational (extended) position, outside of the fuselage contour.  When the fan jet is no longer needed, it is retracted to within the nose section and the covering door is then closed, leaving an aerodynamically clean surface.  This configuration eliminates the need for wing-mounted engines, which cause additional weight, drag and fuel consumption. 

Jet Assisted, Retractable, Pusher Turbo Prop Cabin Class, Center Thrust

The AD-9 “gross weight” is about 2/3 that of a conventional twin.  The net result is that the aircraft has the efficiency of a single-engine airplane with the back-up power and safety of a twin-engine airplane.  The pilot also has the option to use the fan jet, along with the main turboprop engine, to increase cruise speed.  An efficiency analysis of a number of turboprop aircraft, expressed as “Passenger Miles per Gallon” (pm/g), demonstrates that at a 500 mile range, the AD-9, operating on the main turboprop engine, gets 55 pm/g compared to an average of 30 pm/g for 4 popular conventional twin turboprops.  This comparison is the basis for the claim that the AD-9 airplane is 40% more fuel efficient than a conventional turboprop twin. 

A business plan has been developed to build a flying “non-conforming” flight test airplane incorporating AD-9 concepts at a relatively low-cost.  “Non-conforming” means that the prototype, while not identical to the AD-9 airplane, will have similar dimensions and will be suitable for developing engineering data, demonstrating the auxiliary jet engine concept, and for obtaining initial market response.  This low-cost vehicle will be created by modifying an existing Cessna 400 series airframe.  This aircraft will be built in a small facility in Wichita, Kansas, requiring 18 months for construction and 6 months for flight test and initial marketing. 

The designer of this aircraft, Joseph A. Hutterer, has 42+ years of technical and marketing experience in the General Aviation industry.  His associates in Wichita have similar levels of experience in Wichita based General Aviation manufacturing companies.  A United States utility patent, #7,549,604, covering the basic design concept has been issued.  The concept can be scaled up to aircraft larger than the 10 seat airplane proposed.  The business plan suggests several post-prototype business options regarding additional investment, production and marketing.  

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The Online Think Tank is impressed with this innovative design, and looks forward to the full development of this new ultra-efficient aircraft. The future of aviation looks bright, and it's great to see the best and brightest in the United States continue to push the envelope on efficiency, safety, and design. Hutterer Engineering is doing just that. This AD-9 Concept Aircraft solves many problems in General Aviation today. Congratulations Joe Hutterer - Excellent Work!