A vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, including: a vehicle controller circuit programmed to operate the VTOL aircraft without an onboard human operator; a rotor system; an airframe; and an external cargo coupling to receive an external payload of at least approximately 300 pounds beneath the airframe.

A ducted-rotor aircraft includes a fuselage, first and second ducts, and a spindle that is coupled to the fuselage. Each duct includes a rotor having a plurality of blades. The first and second ducts are coupled to opposed ends of the spindle. The spindle is rotatably coupled to the fuselage with first and second bearings. The first bearing is configured to react to radial loads and the second bearing is configured to react to both radial and axial loads. The spindle includes a shaft, first and second fittings secured to opposed ends of the shaft, and first and second attachment interfaces that are attachable to the first and second ducts. The attachment interfaces may be integral with the fittings. Alternatively, the fittings may be configured to be secured to the attachment interfaces with fasteners.

A multirotor aircraft 10 that is adapted for vertical take-off and landing, comprising a fuselage, a thrust producing units assembly that is provided for producing thrust in operation, and a forward-swept wing that comprises a portside half wing and a starboard side half wing. Each one of the portside and starboard side half wings comprises an inboard section that is connected to the fuselage and an outboard section that forms a wing tip. The inboard sections of the portside and starboard side half wings form a central wing region. The portside and starboard side half wings are respectively connected in the region of their wing tips to an associated outboard wing pod that supports at least two non-tiltably mounted thrust producing units of the thrust producing units assembly.

A propulsion system for an aircraft, comprising at least one rotor and a nacelle fairing extending around the at least one rotor with respect to an axis of rotation of the rotor, the nacelle fairing comprising: an upstream section forming an inlet section of the nacelle fairing; a downstream section wherein a downstream end forms an outlet section of the nacelle fairing; and an intermediate section connecting the upstream and downstream sections, wherein the downstream section comprises a radially inner wall and a radially outer wall made of a deformable shape memory material, and further comprising at least one actuator mechanism with at least one cylinder configured to cooperate with one or more components, projections, etc., embedded in an inner surface of the radially outer wall so as to vary an outer diameter of the outlet section between a minimum diameter and a maximum diameter.

A bench seat assembly that includes a first seat that includes a seat portion and a back, a second seat that includes a seat portion and a back, and a center portion positioned between the first and second seats. The first seat is bifurcated by a first vertical plane, the second seat is bifurcated by a second vertical plane, and the center portion is bifurcated by a center vertical plane. The first seat is angled outwardly such that the first plane defines a first acute angle with the center plane and the second seat is angled outwardly such that the second plane defines a second acute angle with the center plane. The first acute angle and the second acute angle are approximately the same.

A method of controlling a multi-rotor aircraft (1) including at least five, preferably at least six, lifting rotors (2; R1-R6), each having a first rotation axis which is essentially parallel to a yaw axis (z) of the aircraft (1), and at least one forward propulsion device (3), preferably two forward propulsion devices (P1, P2), the at least one forward propulsion device having at least two rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) that are arranged coaxially with a second rotation axis which is essentially parallel to a roll axis (x) of the aircraft. The at least one or each of the forward propulsion devices (3, P1, P2) being arranged at a respective distance (+y, −y) from said roll axis (x). The method further includes: using at least one of the rotors of the at least one forward propulsion device to control the aircraft's moment about the yaw and/or roll axes independently from each other.

A vertiport system dynamically updates configuration of a vertiport based on predicted usage of the vertiport during a given time frame. The vertiport system predicts vertiport usage using flight data and estimated passenger demands and determines a desired number of parking pads and a desired number of final approach and takeoff (FATO) pads for the vertiport during the time frame. Based on the desired number of parking pads and the desired number of FATO pads for the vertiport, the vertiport system determines an updated configuration of the vertiport. According to the updated configuration, the vertiport system updates the configuration of the vertiport for at least a portion of the time frame.

A vertiport system dynamically updates configuration of a vertiport based on predicted usage of the vertiport during a given time frame. The vertiport system predicts vertiport usage using flight data and estimated passenger demands and determines a desired number of parking pads and a desired number of final approach and takeoff (FATO) pads for the vertiport during the time frame. Based on the desired number of parking pads and the desired number of FATO pads for the vertiport, the vertiport system determines an updated configuration of the vertiport. According to the updated configuration, the vertiport system updates the configuration of the vertiport for at least a portion of the time frame.

The present invention discloses a VTOL aircraft with retractable wings and TEMCS (trailing edge mounted control surface) mounted tilt-able engines. The aircraft has two hover modes; a first hover mode with retracted wings which allows takeoff and landing in tight landing spots, and a second hover mode with extended wings, during these hover modes, the aircraft operates as a multi-rotor aircraft with additional means of vectored forces created by tilt-able engines, with engines directed upward, and a cruise mode with the wings extended and the engines directed in forward direction.