An aircraft has a fuselage, a wing assembly coupleable to the fuselage, and an empennage including a pair of tail booms configured to be removably coupled to the wing assembly. The wing assembly includes a pair of boom interfaces located on laterally opposite sides of the fuselage. Each tail boom has a boom forward end configured to be mechanically attached to one of the boom interfaces using an externally-accessible mechanical fastener.

A multi-boom aircraft with an adjustable wing geometric twist includes at least one wing, and at least three booms arranged transversely to at least one of the wings. Each of the booms includes at least one actuator, and the at least one wing is mounted on the booms so as at least a portion of the corresponding wing can be pivoted by means of the actuators about an axis extending substantially along the corresponding wing.

A multi-boom aircraft with an adjustable wing geometric twist includes at least one wing, and at least three booms arranged transversely to at least one of the wings. Each of the booms includes at least one actuator, and the at least one wing is mounted on the booms so as at least a portion of the corresponding wing can be pivoted by means of the actuators about an axis extending substantially along the corresponding wing.

The present disclosure relates to a reconfigurable battery system and method of operating the same. The reconfigurable battery system comprising a plurality of switchable battery modules, a battery supervisory circuit, and a battery pack controller, where the plurality of switchable battery modules electrically arranged in series to define a battery string defining an output voltage. The battery pack controller operably coupled to the battery supervisory circuit to selectively switch, for each of the plurality of switchable battery modules, the battery switch between the first position and the second position such that the output voltage is substantially equal to a predetermined target output voltage.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) navigation systems include a UAV charging pad positioned at a storage facility, a plurality of fiducial markers positioned at the storage facility, and a UAV. Each fiducial marker is associated with a fiducial dataset storing a position of the fiducial marker, and each fiducial dataset is stored in a fiducial map. The UAV has a navigation system that includes a camera, a fiducial navigation sub-system, a non-fiducial navigation sub-system, and logic that when executed causes the UAV to image a first fiducial marker with the camera, to transition from a non-fiducial navigation mode to a fiducial navigation mode, to access from the fiducial map the fiducial dataset storing the position of the first fiducial marker, and to navigate based upon the fiducial dataset storing the position of the first fiducial marker, into alignment with and land on the UAV charging pad.

Disclosed herein are a vehicle system and method for VTOL. The vehicle system includes: a carrier vehicle and a cruise vehicle. The carrier vehicle includes one or more fuselages, one or more wings, one or more attach units coupled to the one or more fuselages or to the one or more wings, and propulsion systems operable to provide, at least, substantially vertical thrust and substantially horizontal thrust. The cruise vehicle includes one or more fuselages for carrying passengers or cargo and one or more wings. The one or more attach units of the carrier vehicle are adapted to couple to the cruise vehicle to detachably engage.

Disclosed herein are a vehicle system and method for VTOL. The vehicle system includes: a carrier vehicle and a cruise vehicle. The carrier vehicle includes one or more fuselages, one or more wings, one or more attach units coupled to the one or more fuselages or to the one or more wings, and propulsion systems operable to provide, at least, substantially vertical thrust and substantially horizontal thrust. The cruise vehicle includes one or more fuselages for carrying passengers or cargo and one or more wings. The one or more attach units of the carrier vehicle are adapted to couple to the cruise vehicle to detachably engage.

The main fuselage 12 and the pair of left and right auxiliary fuselage 14, 16 are connected by three wings, the front wing 30, the main wing 26, and the horizontal stabilizer 32. At the connecting portion between the main fuselage 12 and the main wing 26, a narrow portion 28 is provided in the chord of the main wing 26 that is narrower than the other portions of the main wing 26. The narrow portion 28 of the main wing 26 is connected to the side surface of the main fuselage 12 or the narrow portion 28 penetrates the main fuselage 12. The main wing 26 and the pair of left and right auxiliary fuselage 14 and 16 were connected by interposing a flat columnar support 48. The aircraft can fly stably with less turbulence of airflow and is suitable for aerial refueling and the like.

The main fuselage 12 and the pair of left and right auxiliary fuselage 14, 16 are connected by three wings, the front wing 30, the main wing 26, and the horizontal stabilizer 32. At the connecting portion between the main fuselage 12 and the main wing 26, a narrow portion 28 is provided in the chord of the main wing 26 that is narrower than the other portions of the main wing 26. The narrow portion 28 of the main wing 26 is connected to the side surface of the main fuselage 12 or the narrow portion 28 penetrates the main fuselage 12. The main wing 26 and the pair of left and right auxiliary fuselage 14 and 16 were connected by interposing a flat columnar support 48. The aircraft can fly stably with less turbulence of airflow and is suitable for aerial refueling and the like.

A vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, configured to transport passengers and/or cargo, uses propellers during vertical flight and wings during forward flight to generate lift. The VTOL aircraft includes a front wing and a rear wing connected by inboard booms. The rear wing may include a wingtip boom attached to each free end of the wing. A propeller may be attached to each inboard boom and each wingtip boom. The propellers attached to the inboard booms may be stacked propellers including at least two co-rotating propellers. The aircraft can also include a cruise propeller attached to the tail region of the fuselage, where the cruise propeller is configured to rotate in a plane approximately perpendicular to the fuselage to generate thrust during forward flight.