A system includes a first battery in a vehicle. The vehicle is capable of being coupled at least temporarily with a second, removable battery and is powered by at least one of the first or the second battery. The system also includes a controller in the vehicle which is configured to estimate an amount of travel-related charge based at least in part on a pickup and drop off location. It is decided whether to charge the first battery using the second battery based at least in part on the amount of travel-related charge and a measured amount of stored charge in the second battery. If it is decided to do so, the first battery is charged using the second battery.

A system and method enabled to increase efficiency during a VTOL aircraft's transition. A VTOL aircraft enabled to operate multiple lift fans arranged into separately controllable groups, wherein the VTOL aircraft initially has vertical flight but transitions to horizontal flight. A first group of lift fans may be kept at full throttle, a second group of lift fans may be throttled to balance thrust and/or weight, and a third group of lift fans may be shut off.

The Curtis Protocol, an aircraft control interface, is provided. The Curtis Protocol standardizes the division and selection of aircraft flight regimes and flight modes within the selected flight regime.

A tailsitter aircraft for deploying a tow line includes an airframe having wings with pylons extending therebetween and a thrust array attached to the airframe, the thrust array including propulsion assemblies configured to transition the airframe between a forward flight orientation and a VTOL orientation. The tailsitter aircraft includes an attenuation spool coupled to the airframe and an attenuation cable having a first end coupled to the attenuation spool and a second end coupled to the tow line, the attenuation cable partially or fully wound around the attenuation spool. The tailsitter aircraft also includes a spool sensor to detect movement of the attenuation spool and a flight control system implementing a tow line tension monitoring module in communication with the spool sensor to determine a tow line tension parameter and a tow line tension reaction module to initiate an aircraft response based on the tow line tension parameter.

A rotorcraft includes a fuselage, rotors and circular wings. The rotors are attached to the fuselage. The rotors are attached to the fuselage. The circular wings are disposed under the rotors respectively. Upper surfaces of the circular wings have annular curved surfaces and thereby are convex upward respectively. The circular wings cause Coanda effects by the upper surfaces respectively. First lift is generated by rotating the rotors. Second lift is generated by the Coanda effects by the circular wings. Third lift is generated by air jets deflected downward along the upper surfaces of the circular wings respectively.

A system is provided in one example embodiment and may include a first reservoir for a lubricant; a second reservoir for the lubricant, wherein the first reservoir and the second reservoir are interconnected; a first pumping element to pump the lubricant from the first reservoir at a first flow rate; a second pumping element to pump the lubricant at a second flow rate, wherein the first flow rate and the second flow rate are different; and a gearbox coupled to the first pumping element and the second pumping element. The first reservoir may have a larger volume than the second reservoir and the first flow rate may be higher than the second flow rate.

An air guidance device for a vertical take-off and landing aircraft is provided. A nacelle device with a drive device is connected via a pylon device to a wing of the vertical take-off and landing aircraft and is pivotable by a pivoting device, about an axis of rotation between a first position, such as a propulsion position, and a second position, such as a lift position, relative to the pylon device. A first inlet opening of the air guidance device is arranged on the pylon device in a region in which air conveyed by the drive device in the second position impinges on the pylon device and/or in a region of maximum propeller-generated pressure.

The invention is to an optionally piloted aircraft that can takeoff and land conventionally or vertically, and can convert between the two. The aircraft is immune to one or more engine failures during vertical flight through multiple engines and the use of a virtual nozzle. Aerodynamic controls are similarly redundant. Hovering flight is enabled with a novel stabilization system. Long range efficient cruise is achieved by turning off some engines in flight and sealing them into an aerodynamic fairing to achieve low drag. The resulting aircraft is capable of CTOL and VTOL, and is capable of converting between the two modes while in the air or on the ground. The aircraft can also be easily taxied on the ground in the conventional manner. Automatic controls considerably reduce the amount of training a pilot needs to fly and land the aircraft in either VTOL or CTOL mode.

An input attitude associated with an input device of an aircraft is received. A supplemental attitude is generated, including by selecting a position-based supplemental attitude to be the supplemental attitude in the event the input device is in a disengaged state and selecting a velocity-based supplemental attitude to be the supplemental attitude in the event the input device is in an engaged state. The input attitude and the supplemental attitude are combined in order to obtain a combined attitude. The aircraft is controlled using the combined attitude.

A first seal and a second seal seal an annular space between an outer ring and an inner ring by sandwiching a retainer. A stator including a coil is supported by the first seal and is opposed to a magnetic ring. A sensor, a wireless communication circuit, and a power supply circuit are supported by the second seal. A wire electrically connects the coil and the power supply circuit. The wire includes a part disposed in a groove extending in an axial direction of a bearing on an outer peripheral surface of the outer ring.