A variable thrust cross-flow fan system for an aircraft including a rotatable wing member having a first housing member; an actuator assembly operably coupled to the first housing member; and a variable thrust cross-flow fan assembly including a first and second driver plates having a plurality of blades rotatably mounted therebetween. The plurality of blades has a circular path of travel when rotating and includes a control assembly coupled to the plurality of blades to generate a variable thrust force. The control assembly includes a control cam that is substantially non-rotatable relative to the first and second driver plates and a hinge member that is fixedly connected to the control cam and to the first housing member at a hinge axis. Rotation of the first housing member by the actuator assembly imparts rotation of the control cam about the hinge axis, thereby changing the direction of the variable thrust force.

A rotorcraft having an electric drive for driving a main rotor of a rotorcraft, more particularly a helicopter, the electric drive comprising: a coupler for coupling the electric drive to a rotor mast, which can be coupled for conjoint rotation with a drive unit of a helicopter rotor transmission, for coupling for conjoint rotation with the main rotor or tail rotor. A rotorcraft with an electric drive is provided with which the space requirement is reduced, the construction is simplified and the maintenance requirement is reduced. This problem is solved in that the electric drive is designed as an electric ring motor, with the electric ring motor being arranged and attached coaxially with the rotor mast.

An aircraft where an engine creates mechanical energy. That energy is then converted into another transmittable form, e.g., electrical using a generator, or hydraulic using a pump, and is delivered to remotely-located motors and thrusters, e.g., propellers at one or more locations on the aircraft. The general concept makes the engine as well as the motors used scalable to accomplish overall efficiency objectives.

A propulsion system for an aircraft includes an engine (e.g., piston engine, or turbine) having an axis made to be nonparallel with the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. This is enabled using an electrical, hydraulic, or other system to transfer energy generated by the engine (e.g., via electrical wiring, fluid conduits, etc.) to remotely power a motor used to drive a thrust-creating device (e.g., propeller or ducted fan). That the engine is able to be freely oriented allows for it being positioned without regard to any mechanical restraints existing in conventional arrangements.

A gas turbine engine includes a core engine assembly including a compressor section communicating air to a combustor section where the air is mixed with fuel and ignited to generate a high-energy gas flow that is expanded through a turbine section. The turbine section is coupled to drive the compressor section. A propulsor section aft of the core engine is driven by the turbine section. An exhaust duct routing exhaust gases around the propulsor section. The exhaust duct includes an inlet forward of the propulsor section, an outlet aft of the turbine section and a passageway between the inlet and the outlet. An aircraft and exhaust duct are also disclosed.

The invention relates to aviation, and more particularly to designs for vertical take-off and landing aircraft. The present vertical take-off and landing aircraft comprises jet propulsion units containing compressors, overflow valves, air tanks, and a nuclear power plant. Turbines are provided with hybrid engines capable of running on electricity or liquid fuel. On the outside of the aircraft, each turbine is provided with a corrugated tip, consisting of two parts: a base and an extendable part. The bases of the tips are pivotally mounted on the turbine for rotation about their own axis and are coupled to a lateral orientation system for altering the pumping direction. The other part of the corrugated tip is coupled to an angle adjusting system, which, optionally, extends one side of the corrugated part outside the body in order to alter the pumping angle by more than 90 degrees from vertical to horizontal.

A drive system of at least one rotor of an aircraft via electrical energy in addition to or as a replacement of a mechanical system. The electrical energy is provided at least in part by at least one device for recovering thermal energy from hot gases of an internal combustion engine of the aircraft.

An aircraft (1), in particular a passenger or cargo aircraft, with a fuselage (2), has a tandem wing arrangement and has at least two aero engines (5, 6) disposed on the upper surface of the rear wing (4). In this way the disadvantages of the known solutions of the prior art are avoided and an improved aircraft configuration with improved aerodynamics, namely clearly reduced induced drag, is provided. Moreover, the invention creates an environmentally friendly aircraft design which conserves resources, increasing the acceptance of such aircraft among the population.

A gas turbine engine has a fan drive turbine for selectively driving a fan rotor. A drive shaft between the fan drive turbine and the fan rotor includes a clutch, and an electric motor. The electric motor is positioned such that it is not downstream of a flow path relative to the fan drive turbine. A method of operating a gas turbine engine is also disclosed.

An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising at least one rotor motor. The rotor motor is powered by a micro hybrid generation system. The micro hybrid generator system comprises a rechargeable battery configured to provide power to the at least one rotor motor, a small engine configured to generate mechanical power, a generator motor coupled to the small engine and configured to generate AC power using the mechanical power generated by the small engine, a bridge rectifier configured to convert the AC power generated by the generator motor to DC power and provide the DC power to either or both the rechargeable battery and the at least one rotor motor, and an electronic control unit configured to control a throttle of the small engine based, at least in part, on a power demand of at least one load, the at least one load including the at least one rotor motor.