The present disclosure provides an unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle includes a fuselage, a plurality of rotor propulsion assemblies installed on the fuselage, and a fixed-wing propulsion assembly that is detachably installed on the fuselage. The fixed-wing propulsion assembly is able to rotate relative to the fuselage when the fixed-wing propulsion assembly is installed on the fuselage.

A hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle (10) is provided which comprises a multicopter frame (14) having a plurality of operable multicopter propulsion units (22) thereon, and an airframe body (16) which is connected to the multicopter frame (14). There is also a pair of wings (34) positioned on opposite sides of the airframe body (16) and a wing control means for manipulating the pair of wings (34) with respect to the airframe body (16) to alter an angle-of-attack of the pair of wings (34). In a first wing condition, the angle-of-attack of the pair of wings (34) is alterable with respect to a relative airflow so as to produce zero lift, and, in a second wing condition, the angle-of-attack of the pair of wings (34) is alterable with respect to the relative airflow so as to produce an optimum or near optimum lift. A method of improving the manoeuvrability of the hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle (10) is also provided, as is a method of improving the operational range of unmanned aerial vehicles.

A heavy payload, autonomous UAV able to deliver supply by way of airdrop with more precision and at a lower cost. The UAV is equipped with two movable wing systems that rotate from a stowed position to a deployed position upon jettison of the UAV from a mothership. The UAV can be controlled remotely or it can operate autonomously and the movable wings can include ailerons to effectuate flight control of the UAV. The UAV can be reusable or can be an expendable UAV.

A remotely controlled VTOL aircraft includes an autopilot subsystem outputting helicopter control signals, and an autopilot subsystem outputting fixed wing control signals. A transition control subsystem is configured to receive said helicopter control signals, said fixed wing control signals, and a transition control signal. Control signals to be applied to the VTOL aircraft controls are calculated as a function of the transition percentage and weighting factors applied to the helicopter control signals and said fixed wing control signals.

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 manned/unmanned aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using the same set of engines for takeoff and landing as well as for forward flight. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to takeoff with the wings in a vertical as opposed to horizontal flight attitude which takes off in this vertical attitude and then transitions to a horizontal flight path. A tailless airplane which uses a control system that takes inputs for a traditional tailed airplane and translates those inputs to provide control utilizing non-traditional control methods.

An unmanned aerial vehicle has an airframe having first and second wing modules with first and second pylons extending therebetween. A thrust array is coupled to the airframe including two propulsion assemblies coupled to each of the first and second wings. An electric power system is operably associated with the thrust array and operable to provide power to each propulsion assembly. A flight control system is operably associated with the thrust array and operable to independently control the speed of each propulsion assembly. The each wing module is selected from a plurality of wing modules each having a respective function and each interchangeably couplable with the first and second pylons to enable the airframe to support the functions of the plurality of wing modules.

A remotely controlled VTOL aircraft includes an autopilot subsystem outputting helicopter control signals, and an autopilot subsystem outputting fixed wing control signals. A transition control subsystem is configured to receive said helicopter control signals, said fixed wing control signals, and a transition control signal. Control signals to be applied to the VTOL aircraft controls are calculated as a function of the transition percentage and weighting factors applied to the helicopter control signals and said fixed wing control signals.

A pivoting wing system, capable of vertical take-off and landing, having a hub connected to one or more wings provided on a spanwise axis. The wings are further provided with one or more thrust producing devices mounted to the top and bottom of the wings. The thrust producing devices are configured pivot the wings about the spanwise axis. The wings generate lift for forward flight situations, and the configuration allows for controlled vertical and horizontal flight. The wings may also be configured as rotary elements and enable the system to take flight like a helicopter.

Modular unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are disclosed. A disclosed example UAV includes a fuselage that extends along a longitudinal axis, a wing support frame extending from the fuselage and along a wingspan of the UAV. The wing support frame includes distal ends to support a releasably couplable wing, the releasably couplable wing to extend along the wingspan when coupled to the wing support frame, and a motor boom that extends parallel to the longitudinal axis, the motor boom to support a motor that is oriented to generate lift for the UAV.