A blended wing body aircraft having an interior cabin with a usable volume of at most 4500 ft.sup.3 and a cabin aspect ratio of at most 4, wherein a combination of the wings and center body has a wetted aspect ratio of at least 1.7 and at most 2.8. Also, a blended wing body aircraft having an interior cabin with a usable volume of at least 1500 ft.sup.3 and at most 4500 ft.sup.3 and a cabin aspect ratio of at least 2 and at most 4, wherein a combination of the wings and center body has a wetted aspect ratio of at least 1.9 and at most 2.7. Also, a blended wing body aircraft wherein at least each profile section having normalized half-span values from 0 to 0.3 has a leading edge having a normalized height having a nominal value within the range set forth in Table 4.

A propulsion system for an aircraft comprises at least two main gas turbine engines and a plurality of dedicated boundary layer ingestion fans. An aircraft is also disclosed.

A wedge frame for an aircraft that provides tailstrike angle enhancement. The wedge frame has converging, non-parallel faceplanes that tilt a rear portion of the aircraft fuselage upward in order to prevent or reduce risk of the tail of the aircraft striking the ground during takeoff and landing. A method to prevent or reduce risk of the rear portion of an aircraft from striking the ground during takeoff and landing by using a wedge frame having converging, non-parallel faceplanes to tilt upward the rear portion of the aircraft.

An aircraft comprising a fuselage and an unducted turbine engine. The fuselage having a divot with an upstream edge and a downstream edge. The divot is defined by a straight reference line having a length (L) and a maximum depth (h) relative to the straight reference line. The unducted turbine engine having an engine core, a nacelle, and a set of blades. A first flow ratio (FR1) is equal to: h/L.

An aircraft includes a fuselage having a top surface opposite a bottom surface, a front section, a center section, and a rear section. A first mounting rod and a second mounting rod are coupled to the top surface. The first mounting rod and the second mounting rod are single rods. A first and a second wing are coupled to the center section. A plurality of power generator systems are coupled to the first mounting rod or the second mounting rod. Each power generator system includes a power source, a first propeller and a second propeller. The power source is configured to drive the first propeller and the second propeller. The first propeller and the second propeller have an axis of rotation, and are pivotable between a first position and a second position. A shroud encloses the power generator system.

A rotary wing aircraft that extends along an associated roll axis between a nose region and an aft region and that comprises a fuselage with a front section and a rear section, wherein the rear section extends between the front section and the aft region, the rotary wing aircraft comprising: a propeller that is rotatably mounted at the rear section in the aft region, a main rotor that is rotatably mounted at the front section, and a source of asymmetry that is connected to the front section such that the front section comprises at least in sections an asymmetrical cross-sectional profile in direction of the associated roll axis, wherein the source of asymmetry is configured to generate sideward thrust for main rotor anti-torque from main rotor downwash.

An aircraft includes an airframe with an upper portion and an extending tail, a counter-rotating, coaxial main rotor assembly disposed at the upper portion of the airframe, a translational thrust system, including a propeller, disposed at the extending tail of the airframe and a flight control system configured to control at least one of revolutions-per-minute (RPM) and pitch of the propeller of the translational thrust system in response to an input speed or acceleration command.

An aerodynamic control surface assembly includes a structure (2) with an aerodynamic surface (8) and a curved aerodynamic control surface (20) configured to move between an extended (24) and a retracted position (22). The aerodynamic control surface is arranged to deploy through an aperture (18) in the aerodynamic surface and into an oncoming airflow (A). An actuation mechanism (52, 152, 252) coupled to the aerodynamic control surface (20) moves the aerodynamic control surface (20) between extended and retracted positions. The actuation mechanism (52, 152, 252) is configured such that the control surface (20) follows a curved kinematic path (40, 140, 240) as the control surface moves between the extended (24) and retracted positions (22). The actuation mechanism (52, 152, 252) remains fully behind the aerodynamic surface (8) throughout the movement of the aerodynamic control surface (20) between the extended (24) and retracted positions (22).

A system for providing an aircraft with protection against hard landings, the system comprising friction energy absorber systems arranged at the points the aircraft will impact against the ground in the event of a crash. The friction energy absorber system has two energy absorber devices arranged between a base and a cover along two non-parallel deformation axes, a support secured to the base and suitable for moving in translation relative to the cover, and a friction device. The friction device is arranged between the cover and the support and it generates a friction force along a translation axis parallel to a deformation axis such that the energy absorber device, after being plastically deformed during a crash, remains in contact with the support and the cover.

An aircraft including a propulsion system formed by engines arranged to ingest boundary layer air. These engines are placed inside of nacelles partially embedded in the aircraft fuselage and, thus, their intake conduits are delimited by specific fuselage areas and the nacelles. For the specific fuselage areas skins are disclosed with a flexible portion and actuation systems over them for changing their surfaces to adapt them to the needs of the propulsion system.