An aircraft capable of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) and traverse flight. The aircraft generally includes a fixed outer structure including at least a generally cylindrical wing having an internal body situated within the fixed outer structure. A space is defined between the internal body and the fixed outer structure. Within this space are one or more rotatable ring impellers that create(s) thrust sufficient to achieve lift for the aircraft.

An airframe design may include a bonded frame or assembly, and one or more components that may be removably attached to the bonded frame. The bonded frame may include struts, central bulkheads, a tail section, a plurality of wing sections, and motor mounts that are adhered together using adhesive. The one or more attachable components may include a forward fuselage, motors, propellers, motor pod fairings, stabilizer fins, and landing gear that are attached using fasteners. The bonded frame may reduce the number of parts of the airframe design and may also reduce complexity, cost, and weight, while also increasing stiffness and strength. Further, the various attachable components may facilitate fabrication, assembly, and maintenance of an aerial vehicle having the airframe design.

The present invention relates to the propulsion system and aircraft with vertical take-off and landing—VTOL that uses aerodynamic phenomena of thrust amplification, including at zero speed, to reduce the thrust/weight ratio. According to the invention, an individual aircraft 1, with vertical take-off and landing, uses a fuselage 2 in the form of a frame 3 that merges two propulsion system, 4 and 5 one in the front and the other in the rear, of the bi-planar type, located at the ends of the fuselage 2. The propulsion system 4 uses two wings 6 and 7, which are superimposed, parallel and distanced by a certain distance D. The rear wing 7 is fixed perpendicularly to the frame 3 in its median area, so that an angle α between 25° and 80° is formed with the horizontal plane in static position. The front wing 6 and the rear wing 7 are secured at their ends by two jet limiters 8. Similarly the rear propulsion system 5 uses two wings 8 and 10. On each rear wing 7 and 10 are installed a number of electric motors 11, preferably located at equal distances from each other. Each electric motor 11 actuates a tractor propeller 12.

An aircraft that closely integrates thrust and aerodynamics to achieve VTOL flight, forward flight, and smooth transitions from VTOL to forward flight. The invention combines a Box wing, Ducted Rotors and movable Flaperons for VTOL and sustained forward flight of an aircraft. In forward flight, the concept uses a plurality of fixed Ducted Rotors to not only provide thrust, but also enhance dynamic lift and controllability by interacting closely with the two fixed primary lifting bodies of each ducted wing section. In VTOL flight and transitioning to forward flight, the Ducted Rotors direct air through movable Flaperons attached to the trailing end of the ducted wings, providing smooth power, controllability, and aircraft orientation throughout transition. Throughout all phases of flight, differential actuation of Ducted Rotors and Flaperons provide control.

An aerial vehicle of a box wing design adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using mounted thrust producing elements. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to vertical takeoff with the rotors in a rotated, take-off attitude then transitions to a horizontal flight path, with the rotors rotated to a typical horizontal configuration. The aerial vehicle uses one or more thrust producing elements on both of the right and the left sides. The aerial vehicle may have one or more front thrust producing elements and one or more rear thrust producing elements on both of the right and the left sides of a main vehicle body.

A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft has a first drivable configuration in which the pilot seat is positioned between the wings and facing the direction of forward travel. The VTOL may be driven in the first configuration as a normal automobile. In the first configuration the wings are aligned with the direction of forward travel and their surfaces are vertically oriented. In the first configuration, the VTOL may also attain altitude and be maneuvered using thrust from propulsion sources. In a second configuration, the pilot seat is rotated 90 degrees from the direction of forward travel to a direction of forward flight. Forward flight is achieved using thrust to rotate the wings from the vertical orientation to a lift-providing orientation. In concert with the rotation of the wings, the pilot seat is counter-rotated to maintain the seat facing the direction of forward flight.

Described is an apparatus and method of an aerial vehicle, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) that can operate in either a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) orientation or a horizontal flight orientation. The aerial vehicle includes a plurality of propulsion mechanisms that enable the aerial vehicle to move in any of the six degrees of freedom (surge, sway, heave, pitch, yaw, and roll) when in the VTOL orientation. The aerial vehicle also includes a ring wing that surrounds the propulsion mechanisms and provides lift to the aerial vehicle when the aerial vehicle is operating in the horizontal flight orientation.

An aircraft comprises a fuselage, one or more support structures connected to the fuselage, one or more engines or motors disposed within or attached to the one or more support structures or the fuselage, and a distributed propulsion system. The distributed propulsion system comprising two or more propellers symmetrically distributed in an array along the one or more support structures with respect to a center of gravity of the aircraft and operably connected to the one or more engines or motors, wherein each propeller has a rotation direction within a tilted plane of rotation, and a summation of horizontal force vectors created by the tilted plane of rotation of all the propellers is substantially zero when all the propellers are creating a substantially equal thrust magnitude. Movement of the aircraft is controlled by selectively increasing or decreasing a thrust of at least one of the two or more propellers.

This disclosure describes example reconfigurable propulsion mechanisms, example multi-rotor aerial vehicle apparatuses, and methods that may be used to alter the yaw torque polarity produced by one or more propulsion mechanisms in response to a detected loss of thrust produced by another propulsion mechanism of the aerial vehicle. For example, each reconfigurable propulsion mechanism may be configured to move between a normal operating position and a reconfigured operating position. When a reconfigurable propulsion mechanism is in a normal operating position, the yaw torque has a first polarity, such as clockwise. In comparison, when the same reconfigurable propulsion mechanism is in the reconfigured operating position, the yaw torque polarity produced by the propulsion mechanism is reversed and has a second polarity, such as counter-clockwise. Reconfiguration may be done to recover an aerial vehicle from a degraded operational state, for example resulting from a motor-out event, to a non-degraded operational state.

A lifting foil having a configuration with a leading course and trailing course which is rotated about an axis of rotation into a fluid.