A blower including: a forward end; an aft end located opposite the forward end; a shaft located at the aft end; a flange located at the forward end; an internal surface defining an axial passageway within the blower; an external surface radially outward of the internal surface; one or more radial passageway formed within the flange and fluidly connected to the axial passageway, the radial passageway extending from the internal surface to the external surface; and a plurality of blower blades located within the flange and defining the radial passageway.

The invention relates to an aircraft which can both take off and land vertically and can hover and also fly horizontally at a high cruising speed. The aircraft has a support structure, a wing structure, at least three and preferably at least four lifting rotors and at least one thrust drive. The wing structure is designed to generate a lifting force for the aircraft during horizontal motion. To achieve this the wing structure has at least one mainplane provided with a profile that generates dynamic lift. The wing structure is preferably designed as a tandem wing structure. Each of the lifting rotors is fixed to the support structure, has a propeller and is designed to generate a lifting force for the aircraft by means of a rotation of the propeller, said force acting in a vertical direction. The thrust drive is designed to generate a thrust force on the support structure, said force acting in a horizontal direction. The lifting rotors can have a simple construction, i.e. they can have a simple rigid propeller for example, and a vertical take-off or hovering of the aircraft can be controlled, in a similar manner to quadcopters, by a simple control of the speeds of the lifting rotors. High cruising speeds can be achieved as a result of the additional horizontally acting thrust drive.

A vertical take-off and landing aircraft using a hybrid electric propulsion system includes an engine, a generator that produces electric power using power supplied by the engine, and a battery that stores the produced electric power. A motor receives the electric power stored in the battery and electric power produced by the generator but not stored in the battery and provides the power to a thrust generating apparatus. A controller selects either silence mode or normal mode, and determines the amount of electric power stored in the battery and the amount of electric power not stored in the battery from the electric power supplied to the motor. In the silence mode, the controller supplies only the electric power stored in the battery and controls a duration by adjusting output power of motor. In the normal mode, the controller supplies electric power not stored in the battery.

A computer-implemented method, system, and/or computer program product optimizes an operation of an aerial drone. A drone on-board computer on an aerial drone receives sensor readings from sensors on the aerial drone, where the sensor readings detect a change in flight conditions while the aerial drone is flying between a first location and a second location. In response to the sensors on the aerial drone detecting a change in the flight conditions while the aerial drone is flying between the first location and the second location, the drone on-board computer disengages an electric motor from propellers on the aerial drone and engages an internal combustion engine to the propellers.

An unmanned aircraft includes a propulsion system having a diesel or kerosene internal combustion engine and a charger device for engine charging. The propulsion system can be a hybrid propulsion system or a parallel hybrid propulsion system.

A mobile engine-generator vehicle that uses the same motor system for mobility as it does for electrical power generation. The mobile engine-generator vehicle is configured to provide electrical power to an external load via an electrical outlet mounted to the vehicle.

A mobile engine-generator vehicle that uses the same motor system for mobility as it does for electrical power generation. The mobile engine-generator vehicle is configured to provide electrical power to an external load via an electrical outlet mounted to the vehicle.

A computer-implemented method, system, and/or computer program product optimizes an operation of an aerial drone to transport a product to a customer. Processor(s) receive an order for a product from a customer. In response to determining that the customer is authorized to have the product delivered by the aerial drone, the processor(s) identify a weight, size, item type, and value of the product, and determine whether the aerial drone is physically able to lift and transport the product, based on a distance to the customer and a cost effectiveness of using the aerial drone over another mode of transportation. The aerial drone is coupled to the product and launched. In response to sensors on the aerial drone detecting a change in flight conditions while the aerial drone is flying to the customer, a drone on-board computer disengages an electric motor and engages an internal combustion on the aerial drone.

Systems, methods, and devices provide a vehicle, such as an aircraft, with rotors configured to function as a tri-copter for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and a fixed-wing vehicle for forward flight. One rotor may be mounted at a front of the vehicle fuselage on a hinged structure controlled by an actuator to tilt from horizontal to vertical positions. Two additional rotors may be mounted on the horizontal surface of the vehicle tail structure with rotor axes oriented vertically to the fuselage. For forward flight of the vehicle, the front rotor may be rotated down such that the front rotor axis may be oriented horizontally along the fuselage and the front rotor may act as a propeller. For vertical flight, the front rotor may be rotated up such that the front rotor axis may be oriented vertically to the fuselage, while the tail rotors may be activated.

A vertical take-off and landing aircraft using a hybrid electric propulsion system includes an engine, a generator that produces electric power using power supplied by the engine, and a battery that stores the produced electric power. A motor receives the electric power stored in the battery and electric power produced by the generator but not stored in the battery and provides the power to a thrust generating apparatus. A controller selects either silence mode or normal mode, and determines the amount of electric power stored in the battery and the amount of electric power not stored in the battery from the electric power supplied to the motor. In the silence mode, the controller supplies only the electric power stored in the battery and controls a duration by adjusting output power of motor. In the normal mode, the controller supplies electric power not stored in the battery.