Contact

ForzAero@gmail.com

Founder

Darold B. Cummings is the founder and president of ForzAero. Mr. Cummings has over 50 years experience in the design, analysis, fabrication and testing of  air vehicles. He retired from Boeing Phantom Works as a Technical Fellow in 2004, and has been a consultant to the Aerospace Industry continuously since that time. His clients include Centra Technologies (Chief Engineer), Darpa (Chief Engineer of the Rapid Eye program), Empirical Systems Aerospace, Frontline Aerospace (Board of Advisors), Aurora Flight Sciences, Airflow.aero (Board of Advisors and Air Vehicle Design Lead), NextGen Aeronautics, National Institute of Aerospace, and Wright Electric. In addition to his experience in the United States, Mr. Cummings has worked with Airbus in Germany, Bae in England, and Leonardo in Italy. Mr. Cummings won the prestigious AIAA Aircraft Design Award in 2015, and was also inducted into the Pioneers of Stealth in 2015. In 2016, he was awarded the California State University at Long Beach Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 2021, Mr. Cummings was awarded the ASME Spirit of St. Louis Medal, which has the inscription "For Meritorius Service In The Advancement Of Aeronautics" (see below).

Mr. Cummings has 41 patents in a variety of fields. His very first patent (#4,302,796) was for the installation of a laser weapon in a fighter or bomber aircraft, the seminal patent in this field.

In addition to his technical expertise, Mr. Cummings also presents Creativity Workshops to universities, industry, and government agencies. Universities include Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo,  Boise State University, Oklahoma State University, Wright State University, Purdue University, and the United States Air Force Academy.

Mr. Cummings has three of his aircraft in museums: The YF-23 and the X-40A are in the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. The X-40A has his name on the rear bulkhead.

The X-40A Space Plane in the USAF Museum

X-40A rear bulkhead

The Ranger 2000 is in the Tulsa Air and Space museum, and Mr. Cummings is shown as the inventor, as stenciled on the cockpit sill.

The Ranger 2000 Jet Trainer in the Tulsa Air and Space Museum

Ranger 2000 cockpit sill

Mr. Cummings started his career as a configuration designer at Boeing (Heritage Rockwell) from 1967-1982. During that time he worked on the B-1, early Stealth aircraft, AFTI, and Low-cost Fighter designs. In 1978 he was appointed Chief Engineer/Chief Designer of the Next Generation Trainer (NGT) program.  A full scale mock-up of the Rockwell NGT was fabricated in 1981.

In 1982 he joined Northrop Corporation as the Chief Configuration Designer for the YF-23 Stealth Fighter. He had responsibility for the overall configuration, as well as cockpit integration and weapons integration. During this time, he helped developed a unique flight suit, capable of supporting the pilot during 9g maneuvers (Patent #5,318,018).

In 1988 he rejoined Boeing (heritage Rockwell) as the Chief Engineer/Chief Designer of the Ranger 2000 Jet Trainer Program. Rockwell formed a team with MBB (now part of Airbus) and developed two prototype aircraft. The aircraft performed very well, and Aviation Week magazine touted the Ranger 2000 as the winner of the Air Force fly-off (June 5, 1995 issue). Eventually, a turboprop was selected, and the prototypes went to museums in Germany and the United States.

In 1996 he led the Boeing team to develop the Space Maneuver Vehicle (X-40A) Flight Demonstration Aircraft, which flew successfully in August of 1998. Mr. Cummings was awarded Technical Fellowship for the success of the X-40A program (YouTube, Darold Cummings X-40A). From 1998 to 2004, Mr. Cummings led the Navy MRE UAV program, the USAF Long Range Strike program, and the USAF Strike Tanker program. His last Boeing project was to develop a flying car concept for Dr. Robert Krieger, president of the Boeing Phantom works.

Back to Top

Aircraft Design Projects

Consulting Projects since 2004

2004: Boeing Phantom Works: Augmented thrust concept for STOL Transports (Patent #7,150,432)
2004: NextGen Aeronautics: Design of Stealthy, morphing UAV's for Darpa and NASA

2005: Boeing Phantom Works: VTOL propulsion system for military transports (Patent #7,677,502)

2006: NextGen Aeronautics: Classified project for Darpa

2007: Frontline Aerospace/Empirical Systems Aerospace: Chief Designer for the VSTAR cargo VTOL UAV (Patent #8,220,737)

2008-2010: Darpa (via Centra): Chief Engineer for the Rapid Eye program

2010: Art Anderson Associates: Amphibious UAV project
2010: Empirical Systems Aerospace: Hybrid propulsion concepts for both commercial and military applications
2010: Boeing Phantom Works: Advanced airliner concepts
2010: Proprietary client: Darpa XCART program

2011: NextGen Aeronautics: Stopped-rotor VTOL design for Darpa VXP (Patent #D710,782)
2011: Empirical Systems Aerospace/LM: Proprietary project

2012: Empirical Systems Aerospace: Dual-use hybrid propulsion aircraft for AFRL (Patent #D691,547)

2013: Empirical Systems Aerospace: Dual stopped rotor VTOL (Patent #713,321)

2014: Empirical Systems Aerospace: ElectraWing V/STOL Transport design (Patent #D743,868)
2014: AeroVironment: Darpa TERN program, design and CONOPS
2014: Undisclosed client: Darpa Gremlins program

2015: JST: UAV design for AFRL
2015: NASA Aeronautics: ECON program, Air Vehicle Design
2015: Internal project: Over-wing Nacelle Airliner design (Patent #D760,637)
2015: Empirical Systems Aerospace/Toyota: Proprietary project

2016: AeroVironment: VTOL UAV
2016: Aurora Flight Sciences: Proprietary project
2016: Internal Project/NASA Aeronautics: COBRA 80 airliner (Patent #D797,641)
2016: Internal Project: V-Max VTOL air taxi for Uber (Patent #D799,402)
2016: JST: Proprietary project for USAF

2017: Internal Project/NASA Aeronautics: Quiet Sabre Hybrid Electric airliner
2017: Undisclosed client: Uber Air Taxi concept

2018: Undisclosed client: Uber Air Taxi concept
2018: Undisclosed client: STOL Air Transport
2018: NextGen Aeronautics/UTC/AFRL: 6th Gen Fighter Design, model on display at AFRL
2018: Wright Electric: All-electric Airliner concept (Patent #D852,721)

2019: Airflow.aero: Super STOL transport
2019: ARCTOS: Classified project

2020: Happy Take Off: eVTOL Air Taxi Concept
2020: Nextgen Aeronautics: Skyborg Concept, Air Force contract award

2021: Airflow.aero: Modified Cessna 210 eSTOL demonstrator aircraft

2022: Swarm Aero: Chief of Air Vehicle Design
2022: Arctos Technology Solutions: Classified air vehicle design projects

2023: ARCTOS/NextGen: Agile Razor UAV Project

2024: Classified UAV Project

Back to Top

Aircraft Patents

Title, file date, issue date, description

1. Low drag integration of laser device into aircraft. Rockwell International. Filed May 1976, issued November 1981. Patent No. 4,302,796. Seminal laser installation patent for aircraft. Issue delayed five years by Secretary of the Air Force for security reasons. Starting point for all laser installations on aircraft, see below.

   

   

   

2. Single-engine jet trainer (Ranger 2000). Rockwell International. Filed June 1989, issued June 1991. Patent No. D338,054. Sole-named inventor of the Rockwell Ranger 2000 jet trainer. This aircraft is on display in the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, see below.

   

   

3. Twin-engine jet trainer. Rockwell International. Alternate version of the Ranger 2000 with twin engines. Filed March 1990, issued April 1992. Patent No. D325,557.
4. Advanced Aircrew Protection System. Northrop. Novel flight suit ensemble, required for the high-g environment the YF-23 would experience. Also included chem/bio/laser flash protection. Filed December 1991, issued June 1994. Patent No. 5,318,018.  Key elements were included in the USAF Edge protection system. Earned Northrop "Honor Role of Inventors" award. See pictures below.

   

   

5. Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) capable of high speed horizontal flight. Rockwell International (just before being acquired by Boeing). Filed May 1996. Issued June 1998. Patent No. 5,758,844. Sole-named inventor. Boeing built a large scale for flight test in 1998, see pictures below.

   

   

6. Subsonic Stealthy Tail-less Attack Aircraft. Boeing. Filed June 1997, issued May 1998. Patent No. D394,039. Sole-named inventor. Stealthy concept that eliminated vertical tails to reduce radar signature. High aspect ratio wing provided efficient cruise. This design became the basis of Boeing Long Range Strike studies.

   

7. Aircraft with thrust vectoring to provide upper wing surface blowing. Boeing. This was a concept developed from a sketch I made at an AIAA symposium for Dr. John Zuk. Boeing liked the idea, as it would allow commercial aircraft to take-off and land on shorter runways. Filed December 2003, issued August 2005. Patent No. 6,926,229. Sole-named inventor. See pictures below.

   

   

8. Horizontal augmented thrust system and method for creating augmented thrust. Boeing. A thrust augmentation system internal to the wing to improve short field performance. The idea was to incorporate this system on airliners to cut the field length requirement for take-off and landing by 50%. Filed June 2004, issued December 2006. Patent No. 7,150,432. The system applied to the MD-80 aircraft is shown below.

   

   

9. Method and apparatus for generating lift. Boeing. Filed September 2005, issued March 2010. Patent No. 7,677,502. A thrust augmentation concept to provide VTOL or extreme short take-off and landing (ESTOL). This concept was used on the Boeing/Navy Multi-Role Endurance UAV (MRE), and the later Strike Tanker concept. The MRE is still classified, but the Strike Tanker is shown below.

   

   

10. Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) autonomous cargo aircraft. Frontline Aerospace. Patent No. 8,220,737. Filed March 2008, issued July 2012. This concept features a large, central coaxial fan for lift, and a separate turbofan for cruise. Wind tunnel tests performed, and R/C model built and flown, see below.

    

    

11. VSTAR European patent. Patent No. 000-997390. Frontline Aerospace. Covers all of the EU for VSTAR.
12. Dual-use commercial and military transport. Empirical Systems Aerospace. High-wing transport aircraft with a flattened aft fuselage that could accommodate a large rear cargo door. Featured in Aviation Week in the September 3/10, 2012 issue. Filed 2012, issued October, 2013. Patent No. D691,547.

    

13. "Machete" Air Vehicle having rotatable and retractable pair of wings. VTOL Stopped-rotor concept. Darold B. Cummings, sole-named inventor, and patent owner.  Filed September 2013, issued August 2014. Patent No. D710,782. Teamed with NextGen and Boeing for Darpa program.

    

14. "HeliARX" Air vehicle having rotating wings. Empirical Systems Aerospace. VTOL stopped-rotor concept that simplified transition via coaxial rotors. Sole-named inventor. Filed July 2013, issued September, 2014. Patent No. D713,321.

    

15. "ElectraWing" VTOL/STOL transport aircraft. Empirical Systems Aerospace. Novel concept for a passenger aircraft that could take-off conventionally (high payload), STOL, or VTOL. Filed 2014, issued August, 2015. Patent No. D743,868.

    

    

16. "Sprint 240" Airliner concept with upper wing mounted nacelles and V-tail. Allows for very large turbofan engines, and the V-tail has less area and drag than a conventional tail. Sole-named inventor and patent owner. Filed February, 2015, issued July, 2016. Patent No. D760,637.

    

17. "COBRA 80" airliner concept with split wing embedded propulsion and fuselage boundary layer ingestion (BLI). Multiple electric fan motors are embedded in the wing root. A single aft-mounted turbogenerator provides electric power for the motors, and charges batteries. Concept can potentially eliminate the tails by using differential thrust of the split wing propulsors for yaw control, and the aft body boundary layer control flap for pitch control. Sole-named inventor and patent owner. Filed January, 2016, issued September, 2017. Patent No. D797,641.

    

18. V-Max Vertical take-off and landing aircraft. This is the first in a series of designs done for the emerging eVTOL (electric powered VTOL) market. The aircraft was modeled after the NASA X-57 design, and meant to be a potential follow-on "X" aircraft project for NASA Aeronautics. All the rotors are used for take-off. The wing-mounted motors are used for cruise flight, but the tail-mounted rotors are folded and stowed to reduce drag. Sole-named inventor and patent owner. Filed July, 2016, issued October, 2017. Patent No. 799,402.

    

    

    V-Max in take-off position (top) and in cruise (bottom)

19. "Quiet Sabre" airliner concept. This is an airliner concept that uses upper-wing-mounted combination turbofan/turbogenerators for thrust, and uses electric fans for aft fuselage Boundary Layer Ingestion. This concept was developed as a NASA Aeronautics future airliner concept. Sole-named inventor, and owner of the patent. Issued October, 2018. Patent No. D829,633.

    

    

    Quiet Sabre VSP drawing (top) and patent drawing (bottom)

20. European patent for Cobra 80 (see #17 above) with tails. Patent No. 0041242112-1.
21. European patent for Cobra 80 (see #17 above) with no tails. Patent No. 0041242112-2.
22. Vertical take-off and landing "CitiFlex" aircraft design tailored for the Uber Air Taxi project. This concept uses tilting propulsion rather than tilting wings and tails to provide lift and forward propulsion. This is an alternate concept to the V-Max concept (#18 above). Sole-named inventor, and owner of the patent. Issued June, 2019. Patent No. D850,357.

    

    

    CitiFlex shown in VTOL mode (top) and cruise (bottom)

23. Vertical Take-off and landing air taxi concept. Sole-named inventor and patent owner. Issued February 2020. Patent No. D875,022.
24. Electric airliner concept. Sole-named inventor and patent owner. Issued July, 2019. This concept has been selected by Wright Electric as their baseline airliner for use by EasyJet.

    

    Electric airliner concept in EasyJet livery. Shown in international press articles. Patent No. D852,721.

    

    Cover of Aviation Week, December 17, 2018.

25. Prism eVTOL concept for Happy Take Off, August 2020. Patent pending, Application No. 29/749,854.

    

    Prism eVTOL concept in medical air ambulance livery.

    

    Prism eVTOL in air taxi livery.

26. eCOBRA Hybrid Electric Optimized Mission Profile Airliner. Issued January, 2022. Patent No. D941,741.

    

    Takeoff configuration (left). Cruise configuration (right).

27. Electronic Warfare UAV. Issued May, 2022. Patent No. D951,847.

    

28. Aircraft Nacelle Having Electric Motor And Thrust Reversing Air Exhaust Flaps. Issued November, 2022. Patent No. 11,492,099.

    

    Patent Assigned to Wright Electric (left). Thrust Reversing Details from Patent (right).