A collapsible flying device is provided having a housing including first and second housing sections forming an enclosure, and a motorized assembly that includes a drive motor and a drive shaft driven by the drive motor. The drive shaft matingly receives the first housing section and is coupled to the second housing section, wherein operation of the drive motor drives the drive shaft to move the first housing section from a closed position adjacent the second housing section to an open position spaced from the second housing section. A rotor hub is rotatingly driven by the drive motor. At least two rotor blades are coupled thereto and positioned within the enclosure in a collapsed position when the first housing section is in the closed position, and extend beyond the enclosure in an expanded position when the first housing section is in the open position.

A rotor system for aerial vehicles where two or more rotor systems are used in a coaxial or tandem arrangement on the aerial vehicle.

An expendable rotary wing unmanned aircraft capable of storage in a cylindrical housing includes a longitudinally extending body having an upper end and a lower end; and a pair of counter-rotating coaxial rotors each located at respective ends of longitudinally-extending body, wherein each rotor includes two or more blades, each blade rotatably coupled to a remainder of the rotor at a hinged joint and thereby extending along a length of the body in a storage configuration and extending radially outward from the body in a flight configuration.

A two degrees of freedom actuator for example for multi-bladed rotor of an aircraft with at least two blades that are driven in rotation about a main rotation axis by primary actuator, and a secondary actuator that is arranged to rotate each of said blades about the respective blades' longitudinal axis, with a synchronization means that is operatively arranged for driving the secondary actuator based on an azimuth of the rotor about the main axis for obtaining a determined cyclic pitch of a given amplitude for each blade depending on the azimuth of the rotor.

A multirotor aircraft with at least two thrust producing units, the multirotor aircraft being adapted for transportation of passengers and comprising an aircraft operating structure that is adapted for operation of the multirotor aircraft in failure-free operating mode, and a redundant security architecture that is at least adapted for operation of the multirotor aircraft in case of a failure of the aircraft operating structure in operation, the redundant security architecture being provided to comply with applicable authority regulations and certification requirements regarding passenger transportation.

A collapsible unmanned aerial vehicle has: a cylindrical structural body; a plurality of deployable mechanisms laterally distributed about the cylindrical structural body; a control unit; a portable power source; each of the plurality of deployable mechanisms comprising a lift-generating device, a pliable pylon and an actuation mechanism, the cylindrical structural body being terminally mounted to the pliable pylon, the lift-generating device being terminally mounted to the pliable pylon, the actuation mechanism being operatively integrated along the pliable pylon, the pliable pylon being selectively configured to be radially straightened from the cylindrical structural body and to arcuately collapsed into the cylindrical structural body via the actuation mechanism, the control unit and the portable power source each being electrically connected to the actuation mechanism; the control unit and the portable power source being mounted within the cylindrical structural body; and the portable power source being electrically connected to the control unit.

A coupling is disclosed for connecting a propeller to a motor in an aircraft such as a rotary wing aircraft and the like. The coupling comprises a propeller hub having an inner propeller hub bore defining an axial keyway. A rotatable shaft has an internal shaft bore connected for rotation with the motor. A radial key is slidably located in a radial aperture extending through the rotatable shaft. An actuator is slidably mounted within the internal shaft bore of the rotatable shaft. The radial key is received with the axial keyway for securing the propeller hub to the rotatable shaft. A depression of the actuator retracting the radial key relative to an outer surface of the rotatable shaft for permitting the propeller hub bore to be introduced onto the rotatable shaft.

Various embodiments of an unmanned aerial vehicle are disclosed. In some embodiments, the UAV includes a motor assembly rotatable about a rotation axis and a propeller hub assembly removably engageable with the motor assembly. The propeller hub assembly includes a retainer configured and dimensioned for engagement with the motor assembly such that rotation of the motor assembly causes corresponding rotation of the propeller hub assembly. The retainer includes a pair of deflectable arms resiliently repositionable between a first position and a second position, for engagement and disengagement with the motor assembly, respectively. The arms are movable inwardly towards the rotation axis from the first position to the second position upon application of an external force and movable outwardly away from the rotation axis from the second position to the first position upon removal of the external force.

An aeronautical vehicle that rights itself from an inverted state to an upright state has a self-righting frame assembly has a protrusion extending upwardly from a central vertical axis. The protrusion provides an initial instability to begin a self-righting process when the aeronautical vehicle is inverted on a surface. A propulsion system, such as rotor driven by a motor can be mounted in a central void of the self-righting frame assembly and oriented to provide a lifting force. A power supply is mounted in the central void of the self-righting frame assembly and operationally connected to the at least one rotor for rotatably powering the rotor. An electronics assembly is also mounted in the central void of the self-righting frame for receiving remote control commands and is communicatively interconnected to the power supply for remotely controlling the aeronautical vehicle to take off, to fly, and to land on a surface.

The present disclosure provides various embodiments of a multicopter-assisted launch and retrieval system generally including: (1) a multi-rotor modular multicopter attachable to (and detachable from) a fixed-wing aircraft to facilitate launch of the fixed-wing aircraft into wing-borne flight; (2) a storage and launch system usable to store the modular multicopter and to facilitate launch of the fixed-wing aircraft into wing-borne flight; and (3) an anchor system usable (along with the multicopter and a flexible capture member) to retrieve the fixed-wing aircraft from wing-borne flight.