An exemplary high-speed hybrid propulsion system for a tiltrotor aircraft includes two pivotal nacelles, each nacelle comprising an electric motor coupled to a proprotor; an electric aircraft system; an electric generator; an electrical bus electrically connected to the electric generator, the electric motors, and the electric aircraft system; and a convertible turbofan engine coupled to an electric generator through a drive shaft.

An aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing comprises a fuselage, at least one processor carried by the fuselage and a pair of aerodynamic, lift-generating wings extending from the fuselage. A plurality of vectoring rotors are rotatably carried by the fuselage so as to be rotatable between a substantially vertical configuration relative to the fuselage for vertical take-off and landing and a substantially horizontal configuration relative to the fuselage for horizontal flight. The vectoring rotors are unsupported by the first pair of wings. The wings may be modular and removably connected to the fuselage and configured to be interchangeable with an alternate pair of wings. A cargo container may be secured to the underside of the fuselage, and the cargo container may be modular and interchangeable with an alternate cargo container.

A method includes receiving a command to operate a power load of a power system at a command output power while operating the power load at a reference output power; operating a gas turbine engine of the power system in a maximum regulator mode to increase a power generation of the gas turbine engine when the command output power is greater than the reference output power or in a minimum regulator mode to decrease the power generation of the gas turbine engine when the command output power is less than the reference output power; and coordinating an electric machine power draw from the gas turbine engine with a change in power generation of the gas turbine engine to maintain a rotational speed parameter of the gas turbine engine substantially constant while operating the gas turbine engine in the maximum regulator mode or in the minimum regulator mode.

A manned or unmanned aircraft has a main body with a circular shape and a circular outer periphery. One or more rotor blades extend substantially horizontally outward from the main body at or about the circular outer periphery. In addition, one or more counter-rotation blades extend substantially horizontally outward from said main body at or about the circular outer periphery, but vertically offset from the main rotor blades. The rotor blades and counter-rotation blades can be folded upward into a storage position. In addition, the unmanned aircraft can have solar panels positioned about the top housing and fuselage of the aircraft.

A rotorcraft that utilizes both a main compound rotor and a plurality of tiltrotors is disclosed. The main rotor and the thrusters can provide vertical lift for vertical take-off and landing of the rotorcraft. The thrusters of the rotorcraft can articulate to a horizontal position to facilitate horizontal flight. The main rotor of the rotorcraft can continue to provide vertical lift for the rotorcraft in horizontal flight, as well as operate in an autorotation mode. In the event of a failure of the main power source of the rotorcraft, the main rotor in autorotation mode can safety land the rotorcraft. In the autorotation mode, the main rotor can create electrical energy that is stored in a battery and can be used to power the plurality of thrusters. The rotorcraft can also be configured in an anti-torque mode, where the thrusters cancel out the torque of the main rotor.

A power supply device that supplies power to a power load of a flying body, comprises: a power generation unit; a hollow housing including a reserving portion configured to reserve a fuel of the power generation unit, and a storage portion configured to store the power generation unit; and a connecting portion configured to connect the housing to an airframe of the flying body. The housing has a shape long in a front-and-rear direction of the flying body, and is arranged outside the airframe, and the reserving portion and the storage portion are arranged in a longitudinal direction of the housing.

A multicopter having a plurality of propellers is provided with electric motors, at least one main battery, a generator, and an engine. The electric motors drive the propellers. The main battery is a first electric power source that supplies the electric power to the electric motors. The generator is a second electric power source that supplies the electric power to the electric motors. The engine drives the generator. When a remaining capacity of the main battery is less than a threshold, the generator charges the main battery with the electric power that has been converted from motive power from the engine.

The disclosure is directed to an optionally hybrid power system that may operate either as a traditional power system, deriving power from a single power source, or as a hybrid power system, deriving power from multiple types of power sources. An example optionally hybrid power system may include a gas turbine engine and one or more electric motors. When configured as a traditional power system the optionally hybrid power system may derive all power from the gas turbine engine. However, when configured as a hybrid power system, the one or more motors may be coupled to the optionally hybrid power system to supplement the power produced by the gas turbine engine. Additionally, an operator interface that may control the optionally hybrid power system may select from a plurality of operating modes that depend on the configuration of the optionally hybrid power system.

A boundary layer ingestion fan system for location aft of the fuselage of an aircraft is shown. It comprises a nacelle (501) defining a duct, and a fan located therewithin. The fan comprises a hub arranged to rotate around a rotational axis (A-A) and a plurality of blades attached thereto. Each blade has a span (r) from a root at the hub defining a 0 percent span position (r=0) to a tip defining a 100 percent span position (r=1) and a plurality of span positions therebetween (r [0, 1]), and leading and trailing edges defining, for each span position, a chord therebetween to having a chord length (c). For each of said plurality of blades, the ratio of chord length at the 0 percent span position (c.sub.hub) to chord length at the 100 percent span position (c.sub.tip) is 1 or greater.

The present invention includes a distributed propulsion system for a craft that comprises a frame, a plurality of hydraulic or electric motors disposed within or attached to the frame in a distributed configuration; a propeller operably connected to each of the hydraulic or electric motors, a source of hydraulic or electric power disposed within or attached to the frame and coupled to each of the disposed within or attached to the frame, wherein the source of hydraulic or electric power provides sufficient energy density for the craft to attain and maintain operations of the craft, a controller coupled to each of the hydraulic or electric motors, and one or more processors communicably coupled to each controller that control an operation and speed of the plurality of hydraulic or electric motors.