A VTOL aircraft (1) having a fuselage (2) for transporting passengers and/or load, front and rear wings (3, 4) attached to the fuselage, a right connecting beam (5a) and a left connecting beam (5b), which connecting beams structurally connect the front wing and the rear wing, and which connecting beams are spaced apart from the fuselage, and at least two lifting units (M1-M6) on each one of the connecting beams. The lifting units each include at least one propeller (6b) and at least one motor (6a) driving the propeller, preferably an electric motor, and are arranged with their respective propeller axis in an essentially vertical orientation. The front wing, at least in portions thereof, has a sweep angle γ between γ=450 and γ=135°, and the rear wing, at least in portions thereof, has a forward sweep with sweep angle β≥30°.

A ground effect craft having a ground effect wing, a plurality of sponsons, and a control system is disclosed. The ground effect wing may include a fore ground effect wing and an aft ground effect wing. The ground effect wing may generate a stabilizing moment on at least one sponson to stabilize the around effect craft. The plurality of sponsons may be dynamically coupled to the body. The plurality of sponsons may be dynamically coupled to each other. The dynamic coupling may permit the sponsons to move relatively independent of the body and each other, thereby stabilizing the ground effect craft. The ground effect craft may include a stabilizing wing.

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.

An aircraft includes an airframe with first and second wings having a fuselage extending therebetween. A propulsion assembly is coupled to the fuselage and includes a counter-rotating coaxial rotor system that is tiltable relative to the fuselage to generate a thrust vector. First and second yaw vanes extend aftwardly from the fuselage. A flight control system is configured to direct the thrust vector of the coaxial rotor system and control movements of the yaw vanes. In a VTOL orientation of the aircraft, differential operation of the yaw vanes and/or differential operations of first and second rotor assemblies of the coaxial rotor system provide yaw authority for the aircraft. In a biplane orientation of the aircraft, collective operation of the yaw vanes provides yaw authority for the aircraft.

Systems, devices, and methods including an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); one or more inner wing panels of the UAV; one or more outer wing panels of the UAV; at least one inboard propeller attached to at least one engine disposed on the one or more inner wing panels; at least one tip propeller attached to at least one engine disposed on the one or more outer wing panels; at least one microcontroller configured to: determine an angular position of the at least one inboard propeller; and send a signal to halt rotation of the at least one inboard propeller such that the at least one inboard propeller is held in an attitude that provides for clearance of the propeller blade to the ground upon landing.

An aircraft (1) comprising a fuselage (4), an anhedral rearwardly-swept leading wing (5) for generating lift connected to an upper portion of the fuselage, and a dihedral forwardly-swept trailing wing (7) for generating lift attached to a lower portion of the fuselage. The trailing wing (7) is arranged to be vertically lower than the leading wing (5) in flight. The leading wing (5) and trailing wing (7) are blended together at their wingtips, forming a common wingtip (20), such that the underside surface (16) of the leading wing (5) forms a generally continuous and smoothly transitioning surface with the upper surface (22) of the trailing wing (7) so as to form a vortex guide surface (23) such that vortex air flow from the leading wing (5) is guided by the vortex guide surface (23) onto, or into the path of, the trailing wing (7).

An aircraft (1) comprising a fuselage (4), an anhedral rearwardly-swept leading wing (5) for generating lift connected to an upper portion of the fuselage, and a dihedral forwardly-swept trailing wing (7) for generating lift attached to a lower portion of the fuselage. The trailing wing (7) is arranged to be vertically lower than the leading wing (5) in flight. The leading wing (5) and trailing wing (7) are blended together at their wingtips, forming a common wingtip (20), such that the underside surface (16) of the leading wing (5) forms a generally continuous and smoothly transitioning surface with the upper surface (22) of the trailing wing (7) so as to form a vortex guide surface (23) such that vortex air flow from the leading wing (5) is guided by the vortex guide surface (23) onto, or into the path of, the trailing wing (7).

Systems, devices, and methods including an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); one or more inner wing panels of the UAV; one or more outer wing panels of the UAV; at least one inboard propeller attached to at least one engine disposed on the one or more inner wing panels; at least one tip propeller attached to at least one engine disposed on the one or more outer wing panels; at least one microcontroller configured to: determine an angular position of the at least one inboard propeller; and send a signal to halt rotation of the at least one inboard propeller such that the at least one inboard propeller is held in an attitude that provides for clearance of the propeller blade to the ground upon landing.

A propulsion device with double-layer flow guiding assembly and a flight vehicle using the same are provided. The propulsion device includes a propulsion body, a first-layer flow guiding assembly and a second-layer flow guiding assembly. The propulsion body includes a housing, an airflow suction port and an airflow discharge port. The first-layer flow guiding assembly includes a front flow guiding ring and at least one first-layer flow guiding plate. The front flow guiding ring is disposed outside the airflow discharge port and has a first axis. The front flow guiding ring swings relative to the airflow discharge port along a first rotation axis. The first rotation axis intersects the first axis. The first-layer flow guiding plate is fixed in the front flow guiding ring and extends along the first rotation axis. The second-layer flow guiding assembly has a structure similar to the first-layer flow guiding assembly.

A method of supersonic thrust generation includes generating a thrust supersonic exhaust plume having a first average velocity from an engine, and expelling a bypass exhaust plume having a second average velocity from the engine, the first average velocity greater than the second average velocity, so that the bypass exhaust plume inhibits coalescence of an engine exhaust plume compression shockwave.