A hinge assembly 8a for an aircraft component including first and second hinge plates 9, 10, having an aerodynamic surface. A first seal assembly 28 to 32 is provided and arranged to seal between the aerodynamic surfaces of the hinge plates. A second seal assembly 38 to 42 is arranged to seal between the undersides of the hinge plates in order to reduce pressure leakage between voids under the hinge. The provision of two seal assemblies, each having a dedicated function, addresses the competing demands made on the sealing arrangement of an aircraft hinge assembly in use.

An adjustable lift modification wingtip may be attached to a baseline wing of an aircraft. The adjustable lift modification wingtip may comprise a horizontal portion including a control surface and a vertical portion coupled to the horizontal portion. The vertical portion may move about an axis that may be substantially perpendicular to the horizontal portion. The control surface and the vertical portion may be adjusted in conjunction to increase wing efficiency at a flight condition.

Aircrafts having foldable wings are disclosed. An example aircraft includes a fixed wing portion, a foldable wing tip, and a hinge interface to pivotally couple the foldable wing tip and the fixed wing portion. The hinge interface has a first hinge defining a hinge axis that is substantially parallel to a fuselage centerline. The first hinge has a first dimension in a spanwise direction and a second dimension in a chordwise direction. The first dimension is greater than the second dimension.

Embodiments include an aircraft comprising a fuselage; a wing connected to the fuselage; and first and second propulsion systems connected to the wing on opposite sides of the fuselage, wherein at least a portion of each of the first and second propulsion systems and at least a portion of the wing are tiltable between a first position in which the aircraft is in a hover mode and a second position in which the aircraft is in a cruise mode, wherein each of the propulsion systems includes pylon and a rotor assembly comprising a plurality of rotor blades.

Thermally configurable structural elements (e.g., aircraft components such as an aircraft winglet spar) capable of assuming at least first and second structural configurations are provided whereby the structural element includes an integral actuation mechanism may be formed of sintered shape memory alloy (SMA) particles and sintered non-SMA particles formed by an additive layer manufacturing (ALM) process, such as 3D printing. The ALM process thereby provides by at least one thermally configurable region, and at least one non-thermally configurable region which is unitarily contiguous with the at least one thermally configurable region. The at least one thermally configurable region is capable of assuming at least first and second positional orientations in response to the presence or absence of a thermal input to thereby cause the structural element to assume the at least first and second structural configurations, respectively.

An uplock is disclosed including a hook configured to engage a capture pin mounted on an aircraft component. The hook is mounted for movement between a closed position and an open position. The uplock further includes an indicator system configured to detect whether a pin is engaged with the hook when the hook is in the closed position.

A wing having a main wing section with a forward spar and an aft spar extending through an internal cavity. The forward and aft spars are spaced apart and delimiting a dry segment of the internal cavity. A winglet is rotatably coupled to the main wing section by a cant hinge defining a cant axis about which the winglet rotates relative to the main wing section between an extended position in which the winglet is aligned with the main wing section, and a folded position in which the winglet is rotated about the cant axis. A linkage assembly disposed in the dry segment is pivotably mounted to one of the forward and aft spars and is coupled to the cant hinge. The linkage assembly is displaceable to apply a force to move the winglet between the extended position and the folded position during flight of the aircraft.

An airfoil structure for an aircraft includes a spanwise-extending load-carrying member, a leading-edge structure, a trailing-edge structure, an upper cover, and a lower cover. The load-carrying member is configured to react more than half of all flight loads experienced by the airfoil structure during flight and is configured to have selected stiffness properties selected such that the airfoil structure bends and twists in a predefined manner in response to applied flight loads. The leading-edge structure is configured to form a leading-edge part of an aerodynamic surface of the airfoil structure. The trailing-edge structure is configured to form a trailing edge part of the aerodynamic surface. The upper cover is configured to form an upper part of the aerodynamic surface. The lower cover is configured to form a lower part of the aerodynamic surface.

A wing assembly for an aircraft is disclosed having a wing and a wing tip device at the tip of the wing, wherein the wing tip device is moveable between a flight configuration and a ground configuration. The wing has a spar extension which extends spanwise away from a distal end of the wing, the spar extension having a first end portion fixed in the wing and a second end portion which, in the flight configuration, is disposed in the wing tip device such that, in the flight configuration, the spar extension transmits flight loads between the wing tip device and flight-load bearing structure in the wing. The wing assembly may have an actuation assembly to move the wing tip device.

Disclosed is an aircraft and a method of controlling an aircraft. The aircraft comprises a continuous wing assembly extending from port to starboard sides of the aircraft. The aircraft is controlled partially by flexing portions of the wing, and partially or totally by mechanical systems that alter the position of a fuselage with respect to the wing. The fuselage is attached to the wing by a wing/fuselage joint structure that permits at least two mutually orthogonal axes of rotation of the fuselage relative to the wing. The aircraft includes a sensors, a telemetry system linked to a remote server, and a control system for programming flight information and aircraft control instructions and a plurality of actuators responsive to the control system for rotating the fuselage relative to the wing and flexing the wing for controlling the flight of the aircraft in response to instructions from the control system.