A movable flow body device for an aircraft including an elongated flow body having a main extension axis, a first mechanical interface in a first position along the main extension axis, a second mechanical interface in a second position and a third mechanical interface in a third position. The first mechanical interface may be a master interface arranged in a central region, while the second and third mechanical interfaces are slave interfaces. Preferably, in the outboard position, a link plate between a support lever and a support rib of the flow body is inverted compared to the further inboard mechanical interface, which allows for supporting slimmer and longer flow bodies in the outboard region and providing a rigging hinge line through the whole flow body.

Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft include a fuselage having a center of gravity (CG) and defining mutually orthogonal X-, Y- and Z-axes. An even number of positionally mirror imaged port and starboard side rotors are provided laterally of the fuselage in spaced relationship to a plane established by the XZ axes while an even number of fuselage rotors are positioned along an X-axis centerline of the fuselage. Improved stability during failure of an engine/motor/rotor is achieved by causing one-half of the side rotors to rotate in one direction about the Z-axis and a remaining one-half of the side rotors rotate in a counter direction relative thereto, while one-half of the fuselage rotors rotate in one direction about the Z-axis and a remaining one-half of the fuselage rotors rotated in a counter direction relative thereto.

Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft include a fuselage having a center of gravity (CG) and defining mutually orthogonal X-, Y- and Z-axes. An even number of positionally mirror imaged port and starboard side rotors are provided laterally of the fuselage in spaced relationship to a plane established by the XZ axes while an even number of fuselage rotors are positioned along an X-axis centerline of the fuselage. Improved stability during failure of an engine/motor/rotor is achieved by causing one-half of the side rotors to rotate in one direction about the Z-axis and a remaining one-half of the side rotors rotate in a counter direction relative thereto, while one-half of the fuselage rotors rotate in one direction about the Z-axis and a remaining one-half of the fuselage rotors rotated in a counter direction relative thereto.

A public transportation system combines a unique combination of components that includes interoperable electric-powered vehicles, facilities, hardware and software having specifications, standards, processes, capabilities, nomenclature, and concepts of operations that together include a concerted, comprehensive, multi-modal, future system for moving people and goods that is herein named Quiet Urban Air Delivery (QUAD) and in which uniquely-capable, ultra-quiet, one to six-seat, electrically-powered, autonomous aircraft (SkyQarts) fly sub-193 kilometer trips on precise trajectories with negligible control latency and perform extremely short take-offs and landings (ESTOL) with curved traffic patterns at a highly-distributed network of very small, airports (“SkyNests”) that themselves have standardized compatible facilities that interoperate with SkyQarts as well as with versatile, autonomous electric-powered payload carts (EPCs) and robotic delivery carts (RDCs) to provide safe, fast, on-demand, community-acceptable, environmentally friendly, high-capacity, affordable door-to-door delivery of both passengers and cargo across urban, suburban and rural settings across the globe.

A public transportation system combines a unique combination of components that includes interoperable electric-powered vehicles, facilities, hardware and software having specifications, standards, processes, capabilities, nomenclature, and concepts of operations that together include a concerted, comprehensive, multi-modal, future system for moving people and goods that is herein named Quiet Urban Air Delivery (QUAD) and in which uniquely-capable, ultra-quiet, one to six-seat, electrically-powered, autonomous aircraft (SkyQarts) fly sub-193 kilometer trips on precise trajectories with negligible control latency and perform extremely short take-offs and landings (ESTOL) with curved traffic patterns at a highly-distributed network of very small, airports (“SkyNests”) that themselves have standardized compatible facilities that interoperate with SkyQarts as well as with versatile, autonomous electric-powered payload carts (EPCs) and robotic delivery carts (RDCs) to provide safe, fast, on-demand, community-acceptable, environmentally friendly, high-capacity, affordable door-to-door delivery of both passengers and cargo across urban, suburban and rural settings across the globe.

Systems and methods are described herein to implement transverse momentum injection at low frequencies to directly modify large-scale eddies in a turbulent boundary layer on a surface of an object. A set of transverse momentum injection actuators may be positioned on the surface of the object to affect large-scale eddies in the turbulent boundary layer. The system may include a controller to selectively actuate the transverse momentum injection actuators with an actuation pattern to affect the large-scale eddies to modify the drag of the fluid flow on the surface. In various embodiments, the transverse momentum injection actuators may be operated at frequencies less than 10,000 Hertz.

Aircraft pitch control systems and methods are disclosed. In one exemplary embodiment, an aircraft pitch control system comprises a movable horizontal stabilizer and an elevator movably coupled to the horizontal stabilizer. The elevator is electronically geared to the horizontal stabilizer.

A wingless compact aircraft, with limited footprint and no exposed high-speed moving parts. The aircraft can takeoff and land vertically, can fly at high-speed and even cruise on land and water in one of the preferred embodiments.

A wingless compact aircraft, with limited footprint and no exposed high-speed moving parts. The aircraft can takeoff and land vertically, can fly at high-speed and even cruise on land and water in one of the preferred embodiments.

Systems and methods for controlling a fixed-wing aircraft during flight are disclosed. The aircraft comprises first and second flight control surfaces of different types. The method comprises determining that a pilot command of the first flight control surface will excite a structural flexible mode of the aircraft and then executing the pilot command of the first flight control surface in conjunction with a command of the second flight control surface to mitigate the effect of the excitation of the structural flexible mode of the aircraft.