An apparatus providing continuous tilt and variable pitch for rotors on a fixed wing VTOL aircraft. An actuator on a housing rotates a first pivot point on a motor mount to tilt a motor to horizontal and vertical positions. Simultaneously, an actuator on the motor mount rotates a fork on a second pivot point on the motor mount to adjust the pitch of the rotors attached to a free end of the motor's drive shaft. A lower swash plate on the drive shaft is attached to the fork. An upper swash plate on the drive shaft is attached to the rotors. The swash plates are attached to each other with a shaft bushing attached to a shaft ball bearing. The shaft bushing allows both swash plates to move linearly along the shaft when the fork is rotated. The shaft ball bearing allows the upper swash plate to rotate with the drive shaft while the lower swash plate remains stationary.

The present invention relates to a multipurpose and long endurance Hybrid Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (HUAV) with the combined functions of a Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) and a fixed wing operation. The HUAV may take-off and land vertically on both land and water, and perform a mid-air transition from a VTOL mode to a fixed wing mode. The HUAV includes an airframe, a fixed wing unit having at least one forward thrust motor, one or more VTOL units mounted on a tail boom, and a fuselage of the airframe. Each of the one or more VTOL units includes at least one VTOL motor, and a control unit configured to control on-board transition of the HUAV between the VTOL mode and the fixed wing mode by controlling at least one forward thrust motor and at least one VTOL motor.

The present invention relates to a multipurpose and long endurance Hybrid Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (HUAV) with the combined functions of a Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) and a fixed wing operation. The HUAV may take-off and land vertically on both land and water, and perform a mid-air transition from a VTOL mode to a fixed wing mode. The HUAV includes an airframe, a fixed wing unit having at least one forward thrust motor, one or more VTOL units mounted on a tail boom, and a fuselage of the airframe. Each of the one or more VTOL units includes at least one VTOL motor, and a control unit configured to control on-board transition of the HUAV between the VTOL mode and the fixed wing mode by controlling at least one forward thrust motor and at least one VTOL motor.

A telescoping tail assembly for use on an aircraft that has a fore-aft length. The telescoping tail assembly includes a housing extending in an aftward direction and a tailboom slidable along the housing into various positions including an extended position and a retracted position. A jackscrew is coupled to the tailboom. An actuator is coupled to the jackscrew and is configured to selectively rotate the jackscrew to translate the tailboom between the plurality of positions. The tailboom has one or more control surfaces coupled thereto. The tailboom increases the fore-aft length of the aircraft in the extended position and decreases the fore-aft length of the aircraft in the retracted position.

A telescoping tail assembly for use on an aircraft that has a fore-aft length. The telescoping tail assembly includes a housing extending in an aftward direction and a tailboom slidable along the housing into various positions including an extended position and a retracted position. A jackscrew is coupled to the tailboom. An actuator is coupled to the jackscrew and is configured to selectively rotate the jackscrew to translate the tailboom between the plurality of positions. The tailboom has one or more control surfaces coupled thereto. The tailboom increases the fore-aft length of the aircraft in the extended position and decreases the fore-aft length of the aircraft in the retracted position.

An unmanned aerial vehicle having a fuselage, a water collection and emission equipment, wings, linear reinforcements, a landing gear and a vertical fin. The water collection and emission equipment has buoyancy units, a sealed cabin, a water pump and a water collection and emission pipe. The sealed cabin is detachably connected to the fuselage, and a compartment is arranged in the sealed cabin. The water pump is arranged in the compartment and the side wall of the sealed cabin has at least one concave part which is concave towards the direction of the inner cavity used for slowing down the swaying of water.

A reliable and redundant hybrid VTOL UAV power architecture includes two or more channels of high voltage AC power generated from at least one generator, the generator coupled to one or more liquid fueled turbine engines. Two or more high voltage domain modules, one for each channel, receive the high voltage AC power and, using a rectifier change it to high voltage DC power. A power distribution unit accepts the newly converted channel of high voltage DC power and thereafter bidirectionally provides it to a domain battery and to a primary set of motors. Two or more high voltage busses, each coupled separately to one of the two or more high voltage domain modules, each redundantly transport converted channel of high voltage DC power to, in one embodiment, primary sets of motors forming a primary high power domain bus for these select motors.

An air transport vehicle that capitalizes on the strengths and complexities of a fixed and rotary winged aircraft. The air transport vehicle comprises a body aerodynamically designed to avoid substantial drag. The vehicle has a plurality of rotors configured to generate vertical thrust with a rear rotor configured to generate forward thrust. Additionally, each of the rotors are connected to the fixed wing elements and the fixed wing is positioned about the center of mass of the fuselage. Furthermore, each of the rotors are positioned at a fixed tilt angle such that the stability of the vehicle is maintained in a number of different flight configurations.

An example UAV landing structure includes a landing platform for a UAV, a cavity within the landing platform, and a track that runs along the landing platform and at least a part of the cavity. The UAV may include a winch system that includes a tether that may be coupled to a payload. Furthermore, the cavity may be aligned over a predetermined target location. The cavity may be sized to allow the winch system to pass a tethered payload through the cavity. The track may guide the UAV to a docked position over the cavity as the UAV moves along the landing platform. When the UAV is in the docked position, a payload may be loaded to or unloaded from the UAV through the cavity.

A submersion system for a rotorcraft is described and includes a control module for controlling a depth to which the rotorcraft is submerged in a body of water; a compressed air chamber associated with the control module; and at least one flotation pod including a sealable opening on a top surface thereof and an opening on a bottom surface thereof. The control module selectively causes water to be taken into the at least one flotation pod to cause the submersion system to submerge in the body of water and selectively causes water to be evacuated from the at least one flotation pod to cause the submersion system to float in the body of water.