Vertical short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) aircraft include primary airfoils extending outwardly from a forward region of the aircraft fuselage, and secondary empennage airfoils extending outwardly from an aft region of the aircraft fuselage so as to be separated from the forward primary airfoils and thereby define a space therebetween which accommodates non-cyclic controllable propellers operably driven by a respective engine of a propulsion unit. The propulsion units are mounted for pivotal movement within the defined space between the primary airfoil and the secondary empennage airfoils so as to achieve a first operational position wherein the thrust line of the propellers is orientated substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage and a second operational position wherein the thrust line of the propellers is oriented substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. The propulsion units may be mounted aft of the aircraft center of gravity (CG).

An aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using pivoting thrust producing elements for takeoff and landing. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to takeoff with thrust units providing vertical thrust and then transitioning to a horizontal flight path. An aerial vehicle with pivoting thrust units with propellers, wherein some or all of the propellers are able to be stowed and fully nested during forward flight.

Described herein is an aircraft. The aircraft comprises a body. The aircraft also comprises a wing coupled to and extending from the body. The wing comprises a wing inboard end portion, a wing outboard end portion, opposite the wing inboard end portion, and an intermediate portion between the wing inboard end portion and the wing outboard end portion. The aircraft further comprises a strut. The strut comprises a strut inboard end portion coupled to and extending from the body and a strut outboard end portion coupled to and extending from the intermediate portion of the wing. The aircraft additionally comprises at least one aerodynamic control surface movably coupled to the strut.

An aircraft, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle or single-seat aircraft, including a main body and a pair of wing sections, each wing section including a front wing and a rear wing, wherein the front wing and the rear wing each include a first end that is connected to the main body, and a second end, wherein the second end of the front wing is connected to the second end of the rear wing. The main body is located between the pair of wing sections, and each wing section includes a propulsion unit located between the front wing and the rear wing of the wing section. Each propulsion unit may include a first rotor and a second rotor, which may be pivotable with respect to the rest of the aircraft.

The invention pertains to a remote-controlled miniature aircraft with at least one lift surface (17), with at least one pair of propeller drives (12, 13) and with a weight element (20), the position of which can be varied in the longitudinal direction of the miniature aircraft (10) in order to change the center of gravity of the miniature aircraft (10). In order to realize a more compact and more robust construction with improved flying characteristics, the lift surface (17) of the miniature aircraft (10) is arranged above a plane defined by the rotational axes of the propeller drives (12, 13) in order to generate a lifting force for taking off and/or landing from a standstill.

An aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using pivoting thrust producing elements for takeoff and landing. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to takeoff with thrust units providing vertical thrust and then transitioning to a horizontal flight path. An aerial vehicle with pivoting thrust units with propellers, wherein some or all of the propellers are able to be stowed and fully nested during forward flight.

A vertical take-off and landing aircraft which uses fixed rotors for both VTOL and forward flight operations. The wing rotors are tilted forward and provide some forward propulsion during horizontal flight. The rotors are positioned to achieve a high span efficiency. The rotors are positioned to even out the lift across the span of the synthetic wing. The synthetic wing may also have airfoils which may provide structural support for the rotors as well as providing lift during forward flight.

An aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using pivoting thrust producing elements for takeoff and landing. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to takeoff with thrust units providing vertical thrust and then transitioning to a horizontal flight path. An aerial vehicle with pivoting thrust units with propellers, wherein some or all of the propellers are able to be stowed and fully nested during forward flight.

A compound helicopter with braced wings in joined-wing configuration, a fuselage that extends from a front fuselage section to a rear fuselage section, and an emergency floatation system with main floatation balloons and lateral floatation wherein balloons, the main floatation balloons comprise at least one front floatation balloon that is arranged in the front fuselage section and at least one rear floatation balloon that is arranged in the rear fuselage section, and wherein the lateral floatation balloons comprise at least one first lateral floatation balloon that is arranged close to an interconnection region of the first braced wing and at least one second lateral floatation balloon that is arranged close to an interconnection region of the second braced wing.

A braced wing aircraft with a fuselage and a fixed wing arrangement, the fixed wing arrangement comprising at least two braced wings that are arranged laterally and opposite to each other on the fuselage, each one of the at least two braced wings comprising at least one upper wing and at least one lower wing which are staggered and interconnected at a predetermined transition region, the at least one upper wing being connected to the fuselage at an associated upper wing root and the at least one lower wing being connected to the fuselage at an associated lower wing root.