An aircraft frame includes a fuselage, at least one boom and a wing structure including a first lifting surface having a first root portion located proximate the at least one boom and a first tip portion where at least a portion of the first tip portion is located forwardly from at least a portion of the first root portion, a second lifting surface having a second root portion located proximate the fuselage, and a second tip portion located spaced from the first tip portion where at least a portion of the second tip portion is located rearwardly from at least a portion of the second root portion, and a connector surface extending between the first and second tip portions.

An aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using a set of wing mounted thrust producing elements and a set of tail mounted rotors for takeoff and landing. 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 different configurations of its wing mounted rotors and propellers to reduce drag in all flight modes.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for gas transport is disclosed. The UAV includes a fuselage enclosing a volume, and a gas reservoir enclosed within the fuselage, filling at least a majority of the volume. The gas reservoir is configured to receive and store a gas at a pressure no greater than 100 bar. The UAV also includes a propulsion system having at least one engine, each of the at least one engine coupled to a prop that is driven by the at least one engine using energy derived from the gas stored in the gas reservoir. The UAV also includes a control system communicatively coupled to the propulsion system and configured to operate the unmanned aerial vehicle to autonomously transport the gas. The UAV may have a footprint while on the ground, and the footprint of the UAV may be no larger than three standard parking spaces.

Traction air device with multiple wing contours for a wind power generation plant and wind power generation plant utilizing the air device.

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 a set of wing mounted thrust producing elements for takeoff and landing. 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 may have deployment mechanisms which deploy electric motor driven propellers from a forward facing to a vertical orientation. The deployment mechanisms deploy the rotor forward and up as they deploy from a forward flight configuration to a vertical thrust configuration. A single motor may drive two co-axial propellers, with a first propeller driven when the motor spins in a first direction, and a second propeller driven when the motor spins in a second direction.

A VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) rotorcraft with distributed propulsion system having the capability to convert between VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) flight and airplane flight. The rotorcraft includes a fuselage, a tail boom or tail fin, a pair of wings, a pair of transversally extended forward pivotable rotor booms, a plurality of forward proprotors mounted to the pivotable rotor booms, a plurality of rear lift rotors mounted to the tail boom, and a stabilizer mounted on the tail boom or tail fin. The proprotor and lift rotor can be open rotor or ducted rotor. The proprotors in a first configuration and lift rotors provide the thrust vector for VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) flight. Moreover, the proprotors in a second configuration provide the forward propulsive thrust in airplane flight.

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

A deployment mechanism for use on an aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using deployable thrust producing elements for takeoff and landing. The deployment mechanism may use linear actuation of a linkage assembly to deploy thrust producing rotor assemblies from a vertical thrust hove configuration to a horizontal thrust forward flight configuration. The aerial vehicle may include left side rotor assemblies and right side rotor assemblies which may be deployed by deployment mechanisms.

A compound rotorcraft with a fuselage and at least one main rotor, the fuselage comprising a lower side and an upper side that is opposed to the lower side, the at least one main rotor being arranged at the upper side, wherein at least one propeller is provided and mounted to a fixed wing arrangement that is laterally attached to the fuselage, the fixed wing arrangement comprising at least one upper wing that is arranged at an upper wing root joint area provided at the upper side of the fuselage and at least one lower wing that is arranged at a lower wing root joint area provided at the lower side of the fuselage, the upper and lower wings being at least interconnected at an associated interconnection region.