The present invention includes a hybrid propulsion system for an aircraft comprising: one or more turboshaft engines that provide shaft power and are capable of providing thrust; at least one of: one or more electrical generators or one or more hydraulic pumps connected to a shaft of the one or more turboshaft engines; and at least two rotatable nacelles, each nacelle housing at least one of: one or more electric motors or one or more hydraulic motors each connected to a proprotor, wherein the electric motor is electrically connected to the electric generator, or the hydraulic motor is connected to the hydraulic pump, respectively, wherein the proprotors provide lift whenever the aircraft is in vertical takeoff and landing and stationary flight, and provide thrust whenever the aircraft is in forward flight.

An aerial vehicle having incline-controllable wings, according to one embodiment, can comprise: a body; a thrust part connected to the body and having a propeller and a rotary shaft; and the wings respectively arranged at both sides of the body, and disposed to be spaced from the thrust part. The wings pitch and rotate around a horizontal axis of the body such that the angle of attack of the wings is controlled, and an angle between the rotary shaft of the thrust part and the wing can vary because of the pitching and rotation of the wings.

An aerial vehicle having incline-controllable wings, according to one embodiment, can comprise: a body; a thrust part connected to the body and having a propeller and a rotary shaft; and the wings respectively arranged at both sides of the body, and disposed to be spaced from the thrust part. The wings pitch and rotate around a horizontal axis of the body such that the angle of attack of the wings is controlled, and an angle between the rotary shaft of the thrust part and the wing can vary because of the pitching and rotation of the wings.

This invention relates to an airplane capable of hovering, hyper-short takeoff and landing (hyper-STOL) and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) while assuming a positive pitch angle. The airplane comprises at least a pair of wings, at least one vertical propulsor, and at least two horizontal propulsors whose thrust vectors are tiltable with a tilt angle that is adjustable from 0° to 76° relative to the airplane's longitudinal axis when viewed from a side view. The impeller of the vertical propulsor may be fixed-pitch or variable-pitch.

This invention relates to an airplane capable of hovering, hyper-short takeoff and landing (hyper-STOL) and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) while assuming a positive pitch angle. The airplane comprises at least a pair of wings, at least one vertical propulsor, and at least two horizontal propulsors whose thrust vectors are tiltable with a tilt angle that is adjustable from 0° to 76° relative to the airplane's longitudinal axis when viewed from a side view. The impeller of the vertical propulsor may be fixed-pitch or variable-pitch.

A conversion system for a tiltrotor aircraft may be configured to control tilting of a pylon assembly relative to a wing of the aircraft. The system may include a means for generating asymmetric thrust with a propulsion rotor carried by the pylon assembly to generate a first torque on the pylon assembly in a first direction. The system may include a brake mechanism to selectively resist the first torque on the pylon assembly by applying a second torque to the pylon assembly in a second direction opposite the first direction. The rotor (via asymmetric thrust generated by the rotor) and the brake mechanism are coordinated to work against each other to control the tilt rate and angle of the pylon assembly during conversion between flight modes of the tiltrotor aircraft. Other aspects of the present technology include methods of tilting rotors of tiltrotor aircraft using asymmetric thrust and brake mechanisms.

This disclosure describes a configuration of an unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) that will facilitate extended flight duration. The UAV may have any number of lifting motors. For example, the UAV may include four lifting motors (also known as a quad-copter), eight lifting motors (also known as an octo-copter), etc. Likewise, to improve the efficiency of horizontal flight, the UAV also includes a pivot assembly that may rotate about an axis from a lifting position to a thrusting position. The pivot assembly may include two or more offset motors that generate a differential force that will cause the pivot assembly to rotate between the lifting position and the thrusting position without the need for any additional motors or gears.

This disclosure describes a configuration of an unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) that will facilitate extended flight duration. The UAV may have any number of lifting motors. For example, the UAV may include four lifting motors (also known as a quad-copter), eight lifting motors (also known as an octo-copter), etc. Likewise, to improve the efficiency of horizontal flight, the UAV also includes a pivot assembly that may rotate about an axis from a lifting position to a thrusting position. The pivot assembly may include two or more offset motors that generate a differential force that will cause the pivot assembly to rotate between the lifting position and the thrusting position without the need for any additional motors or gears.

A propulsion and lift system of a tiltrotor aircraft includes a wing having an outboard end, a wing tip assembly having an inboard end, a fixed nacelle coupled to the wing tip assembly and a wing-nacelle splice assembly having inboard and outboard sides. The inboard side of the wing-nacelle splice assembly is coupled to the outboard end of the wing, and the outboard side of the wing-nacelle splice assembly is coupled to the inboard end of the wing tip assembly, thereby coupling the fixed nacelle to the wing.

A propulsion and lift system of a tiltrotor aircraft includes a wing having an outboard end, a wing tip assembly having an inboard end, a fixed nacelle coupled to the wing tip assembly and a wing-nacelle splice assembly having inboard and outboard sides. The inboard side of the wing-nacelle splice assembly is coupled to the outboard end of the wing, and the outboard side of the wing-nacelle splice assembly is coupled to the inboard end of the wing tip assembly, thereby coupling the fixed nacelle to the wing.