A drone includes a surrounding cage which can be disassembled from a propeller-carrying internal base. In another aspect, a drone includes at least one fastening clip which attaches arcuate external ribs to a periphery of a central and internal frame, whereafter the fastening clip can be removed for disassembly of the ribs from the frame. Yet another aspect provides a flying drone employs a fastening clip including a snap fit and a generally U-shaped body. A further embodiment has a flying drone with at least one light externally mounted adjacent a periphery of a central propeller-carrying base, located between a pair of external ribs.

A rotor for a rotary wing aircraft having a single blade with a longitudinal pitch axis and that is hinge mounted on the rotary shaft for rotating the rotor, the hinge being about an axis that is transversal relative to the rotary shaft, said rotary wing describing a cone when its pitch angle is not zero, the rotor possessing a balancing flyweight device for balancing the resultant of the horizontal component of the lift force and of the rotary drag force of the blade, the device being mounted to rotate with the rotary wing about its rotary shaft and, under the effect of the centrifugal force to which it is subjected while the rotary wing is rotating, generating a horizontal force that is applied to the rotary shaft of the motor and that opposes the above-mentioned resultant with a magnitude of that is a function of the position of the flyweight(s) of the balancing device relative to the rotary shaft of the rotor.

A hydroelastic damper comprising at least a first resilient assembly that is provided with a first inner strength member engaged at least in part in a first outer strength member, a first resilient member providing resilient return for the first outer strength member and the first inner strength member towards a rest position (POSREP). The hydroelastic damper comprises at least one hydraulic assembly provided with a first hydraulic chamber and a second hydraulic chamber in communication with each other via a connection provided in a first wall of the hydraulic assembly. A first floating piston is movable at least in translation along the longitudinal axis relative to the first inner strength member and to the first outer strength member, the first hydraulic chamber being defined at least by the first floating piston and the first wall in order to protect the first resilient member.

An exemplary unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mountable to a conductor of an aerial power transmission line system includes a body having a rotor system, a motivation system attached to the body to motivate the UAV along the conductor, a battery carried by the body and electrically connected to at least one of the rotor system and the motivation system, a monitoring tool mounted with the body and an inductive coil carried by the body and in electric connection with the battery, wherein the inductive coil is configured to harvest electricity from the aerial power transmission line system and charge the battery.

Disclosed herein is a VTOL tilt-wing aircraft that serves as a 4-6 passenger airliner for scheduled service between city centers and that is optimized for travel distances from 100-500 miles fully loaded with passengers and fuel. The VTOL aircraft solves technical, cost, and time problems inherent in other forms of transportation, including, but not limited to, rail, passenger airlines, and helicopters. The VTOL aircraft (1) takes off and lands like a helicopter, (2) flies fast like a jet, and (3) costs less than or comparable to a helicopter.

An apparatus for air dropping equipment and supplies from an aircraft is disclosed herein. The apparatus includes a canister having a rotor system configured to slow the descent at a predetermined altitude to a desired landing speed via auto-rotation and/or with motor assist. The rotor system is configured to prevent the container from spinning about its longitudinal axis during the descent.

A method for assisting piloting beyond an altitude that can be reached with only the capabilities of a thermal power plant of a rotorcraft, by supplying power from an electrical power plant. After defining a take-off point of the rotorcraft and a target point, and their respective altitudes, a determination of a first maximum altitude that can be reached by the rotorcraft using only the thermal power plant is carried out according to a first altitude law. Then, an estimate of a second maximum altitude that can be reached by the rotorcraft using the thermal power plant and the electrical power plant jointly driving each rotor of the rotorcraft is made according to a second altitude law. If the second maximum altitude is higher than the altitude of the target point, the rotorcraft can fly to the target point.

A method for assisting the piloting of a rotorcraft including at least two engines capable of transmitting engine torque to at least one main rotor, the assistance method comprising the following steps: periodically determining a current position of the rotorcraft; making a first periodic comparison between the current position and a decision point; identifying an engine failure; making a second periodic comparison between the current position of the rotorcraft and a touchdown point; periodically determining an emergency landing profile, the emergency landing profile being generated at least depending on a result of the second periodic comparison; and periodically generating control orders to pilot the rotorcraft according to the emergency landing profile.

An external power assist system for an eVTOL aircraft having one or more onboard batteries includes a subsurface power source and a power transfer interface electrically coupled to the subsurface power source. The power transfer interface is movable between various positions including a deployed position and a stowed position. The power transfer interface is configured to transfer power to the onboard batteries of the eVTOL aircraft in the deployed position. The power transfer interface is moved at least partially subsurface in the stowed position.

A tail-rotor vibration dampener system for an aircraft is provided. The system includes a fuselage and an open rotor assembly including a powerplant and a set of rotor blades. The system further includes at least one actuator unit connecting the open rotor assembly to the fuselage. The actuator unit includes a hydraulic actuator controlling a position of the open rotor assembly in relation to the fuselage and a dampening device operable to cancel a vibration emanating from the open rotor assembly. The system further includes a computerized vibration dampening controller, including programming to determine a frequency of the vibration emanating from the open rotor assembly and control the dampening device to cancel the vibration emanating from the open rotor assembly based upon the frequency.