Disclosed is a tail-sitter aircraft. The aircraft comprises a fuselage for carrying a payload, a first lift body and a second lift body offset from the first lift body normal to a plane of the first lift body, and one or more first rotors and one or more second rotors. The first rotor(s) are mounted to the first lift body and the second rotor(s) are mounted to the second lift body. The aircraft also includes a controller that, in some cases, is configured to change a speed of one or more of said propulsion units relative to a speed of one or more other ones of said propulsion units, to adjust an orientation of the aircraft around one or more primary axes. The primary axes are the pitch, roll and yaw axes. In some cases, a position of the payload relative to the lift bodies is adjustable.

Disclosed is a tail-sitter aircraft. The aircraft comprises a fuselage for carrying a payload, a first lift body and a second lift body offset from the first lift body normal to a plane of the first lift body, and one or more first rotors and one or more second rotors. The first rotor(s) are mounted to the first lift body and the second rotor(s) are mounted to the second lift body. The aircraft also includes a controller that, in some cases, is configured to change a speed of one or more of said propulsion units relative to a speed of one or more other ones of said propulsion units, to adjust an orientation of the aircraft around one or more primary axes. The primary axes are the pitch, roll and yaw axes. In some cases, a position of the payload relative to the lift bodies is adjustable.

A method of operating an aircraft including takeoff of an aircraft; transitioning the aircraft to a forward flight configuration by increasing an amount of forward propulsive force generated by a propeller assembly from equal to or less than 10% to at least 80% of a propeller assembly maximum and reducing the upward propulsive force generated by rotor assemblies from at least 80% of a rotor assembly maximum to equal to or less than 10%; flying the aircraft from a first location to a second location in the forward flight configuration; and transitioning the aircraft to a landing configuration at the second location by decreasing an amount of forward propulsive force generated by the propeller assembly and increasing the upward propulsive force generated by the rotor assemblies.

A method of operating an aircraft including takeoff of an aircraft; transitioning the aircraft to a forward flight configuration by increasing an amount of forward propulsive force generated by a propeller assembly from equal to or less than 10% to at least 80% of a propeller assembly maximum and reducing the upward propulsive force generated by rotor assemblies from at least 80% of a rotor assembly maximum to equal to or less than 10%; flying the aircraft from a first location to a second location in the forward flight configuration; and transitioning the aircraft to a landing configuration at the second location by decreasing an amount of forward propulsive force generated by the propeller assembly and increasing the upward propulsive force generated by the rotor assemblies.

This disclosure is directed to an unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”) that transitions in-flight between vertical flight configuration and horizontal flight configuration by changing an orientation of the UAV by approximately ninety degrees. The UAV may include propulsion units that are coupled to a wing. The wing may include wing segments rotatably coupled together by pivots that rotate to position the propulsion units around a center of mass of the UAV when the fuselage is oriented perpendicular with the horizon. In this vertical flight configuration, the UAV may perform vertical flight or hover. During the vertical flight, the UAV may cause the wing to extend outward via the pivots such that the wing segments become positioned substantially parallel to one another and the wing resembles a conventional fixed wing. With the wing extended, the UAV assumes a horizontal flight configuration that provides upward lift generated from the wing.

A system of a multi-rotor aircraft that capitalizes on the advantages of fixed wing elements combined with rotary wing structures. The fixed wing elements can help to generate lift once the aircraft is airborne and can thus reduce the need for larger lifting rotors which can allow for longer flight times and distances. Additionally, the systems disclosed herein take advantage of a partial in-wing configuration with a number of rotors to reduce the overall footprint of the vehicle while maintaining the flight efficiency that comes with combining features of fixed and rotary wing elements, and increasing operator safety by shrouding rotating parts. The unique configurations allow for a decoupling of the pitch, yaw and roll authority to reduce the complexity in control systems and improve the flight efficiency of the aircraft. Additional configurations implement the use of smaller thrust rotors that can be used to generate thrust as well as control yaw and thus counteract any remaining unbalanced torque.

An aircraft operable to transition between thrust-borne lift in a VTOL orientation and wing-borne lift in a biplane orientation. The aircraft has an airframe including first and second wings with first and second pylons coupled therebetween. A distributed thrust array is coupled to the airframe including a plurality of propulsion assemblies coupled to the first wing and a plurality of propulsion assemblies coupled to the second wing. A cargo pod is coupled between the first and second pylons. The cargo pod is rotatable between a loading configuration, substantially perpendicular to the wings and a transportation and deployment configuration, substantially parallel to the wings. A flight control system is configured to independently control each of the propulsion assemblies and to autonomously deploy a payload from the cargo pod at a desired location.

An aircraft includes wings with integrated ducted fans. The ducted fans each have a duct, and each respective duct is made up of inlet regions and outlet regions. Different ducts of different ducted fans can have different construction variants, but the outlet regions of respective ducts can be of identical or mirror-symmetrical shape with respect to one another in all construction variants.

An aircraft includes wings having integrated ducted fans. The integrated ducted fans each have a duct with a stiffness ring. Each stiffness ring is made up of stiffness boxes and circular-arc-shaped ring segments. The stiffness boxes can include first stiffness boxes and second stiffness boxes, and the first stiffness boxes and second stiffness boxes differ in terms of height.

Systems, devices, and methods for a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aerial vehicle having a first GPS antenna and a second GPS antenna, where the second GPS antenna is disposed distal from the first GPS antenna; and an aerial vehicle flight controller, where the flight controller is configured to: utilize a GPS antenna signal via the GPS antenna switch from the first GPS antenna or the second GPS antenna; receive a pitch level of the aerial vehicle from the one or more aerial vehicle sensors in vertical flight or horizontal flight; determine if the received pitch level is at a set rotation from vertical or horizontal; and utilize the GPS signal not being utilized via the GPS antenna switch if the determined pitch level is at or above the set rotation.