A vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft comprises a fuselage. A pair of wings is fixedly connected to the fuselage. A pair of horizontal stabilizers is fixedly connected to the fuselage and spaced from the pair of wings along a longitudinal axis. At least one fan is ducted within each wing of the pair of wings and within each horizontal stabilizer. The at least one fan has a fan axis defined by a fan hub. The fan axis has a fan axis orientation defined in a frame of reference of the VTOL aircraft. The fan axis orientation is invariable in the frame of reference. At least one thrust unit is mounted to the fuselage. The at least one thrust unit has a thrust unit axis defined by the thrust unit hub.

A method is described to stabilize a reflector in the upper atmosphere to reflect solar irradiance before it can be absorbed or scattered by Earth's atmosphere or surface. Thin reflective sheets are flown under control in the upper atmosphere above Earth, in contrast to reflecting from Space orbits or the ground. The high altitude enables nearly total reflection. This invention uses rotational motion to hold sheets stretched by centrifugal means while enabling the generation of aerodynamic lift. During the daytime solar power is used to store rotational and potential energy. During the night the low disc loading of the rotor system facilitates gliding flight without descending into controlled airspace.

The present invention provides a pod (100) for an aircraft (1000), comprising: a housing (1); a unit (2) comprising a propulsion system, the unit comprising at least one attachment point (5) for coupling the unit to the housing (1), wherein the position of the unit relative to the housing is selected from a plurality of positions based on the centre of gravity of the aircraft, such that deflection of control surfaces required for the aircraft to maintain a constant angle of attack is minimised. The invention also provides an aircraft (1000) having the pod (100) and a method of balancing the aircraft (1000).

The present invention relates to a monopropellant system for a regenerative fuel cell (RFC) and a method for mono-propulsion using same and, more specifically, to a monopropellant system for an RFC which can, when operating an electrically propelled airplane adopting an RFC system, secure more energy via a monopropellant than conventional methods and use same as a propulsion source for airplane takeoff and so on, and to a method for mono-propulsion using the monopropellant system for an RFC.

A passenger-carrying rotorcraft with fixed-wings for generating lift utilizes an occupiable structural body, a control unit, a plurality of lift-generating rotors, a portable power source, and a bi-wing structure. The rotorcraft configured with fixed-wings results in an energy-efficient aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing. The occupiable structural body is designed to carry a pilot and one or more passengers. The control unit is wired to flight instruments controlled by the pilot, allowing the pilot to maneuver the rotorcraft. The plurality of lift-generating rotors provides upward thrust for vertical takeoff and landing of the rotorcraft. The portable power source is charged by a hybrid power generation system running on both renewable solar energy and a non-renewable chemical fuel source. The bi-wing structure employs two airfoils positioned on top of each other to maximize the lift without significantly increasing the effective wingspan.

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.

One or more embodiments of the present disclosure include features and functionality that reduce size, weight, and power (SWaP) specifications for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) by combining flight control functionality with mission processing functionality within common hardware. By implementing flight control and mission processing functionality using common hardware, systems and methods described herein decrease costs associated with developing, producing, servicing, and operating UAVs. Moreover, the systems and methods described herein include features that reduce the SWaP for the UAV while providing further redundancies that maintain reliability of the UAV.

A high-flying solar unmanned aircraft system capable of extending endurance time is disclosed. The system includes a main aircraft, a separable auxiliary power source and a connection device. The main aircraft includes a first body, a second body, a first wing portion, a second wing portion, a third wing portion, a first propeller and a second propeller. The second wing portion locates between the first body and the second body, and the second wing portion connects the first body and the second body. The connection device connects the main aircraft and the auxiliary power source, and includes a separation device. When the system climbs, the separable auxiliary power source provides additional energy to assist the main aircraft to climb. When reaching a preset altitude, the separation device, by burning out a line of connection bent, is turned on such that the auxiliary power source is separated from the main aircraft.

A ground-, sea- or aircraft-based laser transmission system can be implemented to remotely and wirelessly transmit power to an airship to be stored in an energy storage device, such as a battery. The airship can include an energy collection system having a plurality of photovoltaic cells arranged in an array and electrically coupled to the energy storage system. The energy collection system can also include one or more control link components positioned adjacent the array of photovoltaic cells. The control link components are configured to establish a control link between the airship and a power transmission system. The plurality of photovoltaic cells are configured to transfer laser beam transmitted energy from the power transmission system to the energy storage system.

A light-weight stiffened wing airfoil includes at least one wing segment (52). The wing segment comprises an upper (53b) and a lower skin assembly (53a), wherein each of the upper and lower skin assemblies incorporates a plurality of inwardly facing stringers (74); a first rib (64-1) at a distal end of the wing segment and a second rib (64-2) at a proximal end of the wing segment; a plurality of rib trusses (70) extending from the first and second ribs to the opposing skin assembly (53); and a plurality of support members extending from the inwardly facing stringers to the opposing skin assembly.