Multi-rotor aircraft and method of controlling same

Abstract

A method of controlling a multi-rotor aircraft (1) including at least five, preferably at least six, lifting rotors (2; R1-R6), each having a first rotation axis which is essentially parallel to a yaw axis (z) of the aircraft (1), and at least one forward propulsion device (3), preferably two forward propulsion devices (P1, P2), the at least one forward propulsion device having at least two rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) that are arranged coaxially with a second rotation axis which is essentially parallel to a roll axis (x) of the aircraft. The at least one or each of the forward propulsion devices (3, P1, P2) being arranged at a respective distance (+y, −y) from said roll axis (x). The method further includes: using at least one of the rotors of the at least one forward propulsion device to control the aircraft's moment about the yaw and/or roll axes independently from each other.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a multi-rotor aircraft (1), said aircraft (1) comprising: at least four lifting rotors (2; R1-R6), each having a first rotation axis which is essentially parallel to a yaw axis (z) of the aircraft (1), and at least two forward propulsion devices (3), each of the at least two forward propulsion devices having at least two counterrotating rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) that are arranged coaxially with a second rotation axis which is essentially parallel to a roll axis (x) of the aircraft, each of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3, P1, P2) being arranged symmetrically about the roll axis at a respective distance (+y, −y) from said roll axis (x), the method comprising: using at least one of the rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3, P1, P2) to control a moment of the aircraft about at least one of the yaw axis (z) or the roll axis (x) independently from each other.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an unbalanced moment about at least one of the yaw axis (z) or the roll axis (x); using at least one of the rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3, P1, P2) to compensate said unbalanced moment around the yaw axis (z) or the roll axis (x).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the using of at least one of the rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3, P1, P2) to compensate said unbalanced moment around the yaw axis (z) or the roll axis (x) is carried out upon failure of any one of the lifting rotors (2; R1-R6).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in case of a failure of any one of the lifting rotors (2; R1-R6), operating all remaining functional ones of the lifting rotors (R2-R6) with adapted respective rotor speeds.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in case of an unbalanced moment about the yaw axis (z), operating the at least two counterrotating rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) in mutually opposite directions of rotation to generate, with said at least two counterrotating rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2), a combined thrust force (Fx) in a direction parallel to the roll axis (x) for a given forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2), wherein a moment about the yaw (z) axis created by said combined thrust force (Fx) is essentially equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to a determined unbalanced moment about the yaw axis (z).

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said combined thrust force (Fx) for one said forward propulsion device of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) is opposite in direction when compared to the combined thrust force (Fx) of another said forward propulsion device of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2), and a combined moment about the yaw axis (z) created by said combined thrust forces is essentially equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the determined unbalanced moment about the yaw axis (z).

7. The method of claim 5, wherein, there are two of the forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) that are located at a same distance (+/−y) from the roll axis (x), and the combined thrust forces of the forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) are equal in magnitude.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in case of an unbalanced moment about the roll axis (x), operating at least one of the rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) such that a combined moment about the roll axis (x) generated by said operated rotor(s) (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of the at least two forward propulsion device(s) (3; P1, P2) is essentially equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to a determined unbalanced moment about the roll axis (x).

9. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one of the rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of each said forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2) is operated.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein in case of an unbalanced moment about the yaw axis (z): i) for each said forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2), operating the rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) such that they do not produce, in combination, any moment about the roll axis (x); or ii) for multiple ones of the forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2), the rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) are operated such that any moments about the roll axis (x) created by the multiple ones of the forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) are compensated between the multiple ones of the forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2).

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in case of an unbalanced moment about the yaw axis (z), generating, for each said forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2) in a multitude of forward propulsion devices, a respective moment about the yaw axis (z), with said moments being essentially equal in magnitude but of opposite direction.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein in case of an unbalanced moment about the roll axis (x) during operating only one said rotor (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) per each said forward propulsion device from a multitude of two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2), a direction of rotation is the same for the rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of both said forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2).

13. The method of claim 1, wherein in case of an unbalanced moment about the roll axis (x) during operating the at least two counterrotating rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) for a given said forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2), the at least two counterrotating rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) are operated in differential mode, producing a residual moment about the roll axis (x).

14. The method of claim 1, wherein in case of an unbalanced moment about the roll axis (x), operating at least one said rotor (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of each said forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2) from a multitude of two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) to generate, with each said forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2), a thrust force of each said forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2) in a direction parallel to the roll axis (x), wherein said thrust force of one said forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2) is oriented in a same direction when compared to the thrust force of the other forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2).

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said thrust force of said one forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2) is equal in magnitude when compared to the thrust force of the other forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2).

16. A multi-rotor aircraft (1), said aircraft (1) comprising: at least four lifting rotors (2; R1-R6), each having a first rotation axis which is essentially parallel to a yaw axis (z) of the aircraft (1); at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2), each of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) having at least two counterrotating rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) that are arranged coaxially with a second rotation axis which is essentially parallel to a roll axis (x) of the aircraft (1), each of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) being arranged symmetrically about the roll axis at a respective distance (+y, −y) from said roll axis (x); a flight controller (5) in operative connection with said lifting rotors (2; R1-R6) and said at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2), said flight controller (5) is configured to control said lifting rotors (2; R1-R6) and said at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) to compensate any unbalanced moment around the yaw axis (z) or the roll axis (x) by: controlling at least one of the rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) to control a moment of the aircraft about at least one of the yaw axis (z) or the roll axis (x) independently from each other.

17. The multi-rotor aircraft (1) of claim 16, wherein the flight controller (5) is configured to compensate the unbalanced moment around the yaw axis (z) or the roll axis (x) in case of a failure of any one of the lifting rotors (R1-R6).

18. The aircraft (1) of claim 16, wherein the flight controller (5) is further configured to perform the method steps of: determining an unbalanced moment about at least one of the yaw axis (z) or the roll axis (x); and using at least one of the rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3, P1, P2) to compensate said unbalanced moment around the yaw axis (z) or the roll axis (x).

19. The aircraft (1) of claim 16, wherein the flight controller (5) is further configured to perform the method steps of: in case of a failure of any one of the lifting rotors (2; R1-R6), operating all remaining functional ones of the lifting rotors (R2-R6) with adapted respective rotor speeds.

20. The aircraft (1) of claim 16, wherein the flight controller (5) is further configured to perform the method steps of: in case of an unbalanced moment about the yaw axis (z), operating the at least two counterrotating rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2) of the at least two forward propulsion devices (3; P1, P2) in mutually opposite directions of rotation to generate, with said at least two counterrotating rotors (P1_R1, P1_R2, P2_R1, P2_R2), a combined thrust force (Fx) in a direction parallel to the roll axis (x) for a given forward propulsion device (3; P1, P2), wherein a moment about the yaw (z) axis created by said combined thrust force (Fx) is essentially equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to a determined unbalanced moment about the yaw axis (z).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further features and advantages of the invention will now be described with reference to exemplary embodiments as shown in the appended drawings.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a multi-rotor aircraft with lifters (lifting propellers) and pushers (pushing units);

(3) FIG. 2 shows the basic function of an aircraft 1 according to FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 2A shows normal operation of the pushing units in FIGS. 1 and 2;

(5) FIG. 3 shows the aircraft of FIG. 2 in the case of a failure of one lifting rotor;

(6) FIG. 4 shows a table with measures how to balance a yaw moment in the aircraft of FIG. 2;

(7) FIG. 5 shows a detail of the operation of the aircraft in FIG. 2 for balancing a yaw moment;

(8) FIG. 6 shows a table with measures how to balance a roll moment in the aircraft of FIG. 2;

(9) FIG. 7 shows operation of the aircraft in FIG. 2 for balancing a roll moment;

(10) FIG. 8 shows a comparison of forces and moments for different aircraft;

(11) FIG. 9 shows a comparison of RPM values for different aircraft; and

(12) FIG. 10 shows a comparison of power consumptions for different aircraft.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(13) FIG. 1 shows an aircraft 1 that can be operated using at least two different control options or control modes. The aircraft has lifters (lifting propellers) 2, i.e., rotors with essentially vertical axis of rotation, and pushers (pushing units) 3, i.e., rotors with essentially horizontal axis of rotation, as well as respective associated motors (not shown) for driving said rotors. While lifters 2 are used for, e.g., hover flight, pushers 3 can be used for forward travel which exceeds a certain threshold velocity. In this way, operating the aircraft 1 by using lifters 2 and by using pushers 3 (together with control surfaces, e.g., flaps, ailerons, elevators, etc.—some of them being denoted by reference numeral 4), respectively, can be regarded as two separated control options or modes. Using lifters 2 only can be regarded as a copter mode, whereas additionally using pushers 3 can be regarded as a jet mode. Reference numeral 5 denotes a flight controller or flight control unit/device in operational connection with different sensors 6, which sensors measure different physical parameters of the aircraft 1, in particular its airspeed (velocity relative to the ambient air) or any existing moments (roll, pitch, and yaw; axes x, y, and z, respectively). If the sensors 6 detect any unbalanced moment, as explained in detail above, flight controller 5 may use this information to operate the aircraft 1 in accordance with the present invention in order to balance said moments. Flight controller 5 uses different control laws to control, inter alia, lifters 2 and/or pushers 3 based on data provided by sensors 6 and pilot input (from pilot input device 7, e.g., a joystick) or data from an autonomous system which replaces the pilot. To this end, flight controller 5 uses a control algorithm that implements, inter alia, the method in accordance with the present invention.

(14) In the aircraft 1 according to FIG. 1, the lifting rotors 2 are arranged in pairs in symmetrical fashion with respect to the roll axis (x axis). The pushers 3 are located aft of and/or below the lifting rotors 2. Further, the lifting rotors 2 are devised identically and/or are located in line on respective opposite sides of the aircraft 1.

(15) FIG. 2 shows the basic function of an aircraft 1 according to FIG. 1 with six lifting propellers 2 (denoted R1-R6) rotating about their respective axis (which essentially corresponds to the z axis (yaw axis)), each generating torque along/about said axis. However, the aircraft 1 generally is not limited to any particular type of lifter 2. Two pushing units 3 (denoted P1 and P2) are installed on each side of the rear of the aircraft 1 at a distance y from the roll axis (x axis) with the general purpose to produce thrust for a forward flight motion (along −x axis). Each pushing unit 3 has at least two internal rotors _R1, _R2, as described above, which are also hereinafter referred to as “stages”. In this way, the pushing units 3 can be referred to as “dual stage” pushers. In order to control the aircraft 1, the following moments have to be controlled: Roll—the motion about the longitudinal aircraft axis x, described as Mx; Pitch—the motion about the lateral aircraft axis y, described as My; Yaw—the motion about the vertical aircraft axis z, described as Mz.

(16) The matrix below shows all forces and moments which act upon the aircraft 1 and which have to be balanced in order for it to be airworthy. As stated, R1 to R6 represent the lifters or lifting propellers 2, P1 and P2 represent the pushers or pusher units 3, whereas each pusher 3 has a rotor _R1 and a coaxially arranged counterrotating rotor _R2. Each of R1-R6, P1 and P2 produces three forces (Fx, Fy, Fz; the index refers to its direction in space) and three moments (Mx, My, Mz). Lifters R1, R3, and R5 are on the right-hand side of the aircraft 1, lifters R2, R4, and R6 are on the left-hand side of the aircraft 1. Pusher P1 is on the right-hand side, and pusher P2 on the left-hand side, as shown. Both pushers P1, P2 are located at a distance y (−/+y) from the aircraft's x axis. CoG denotes the aircraft's centre of gravity.

(17) TABLE-US-00001 P1 P2 R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Rotor1 Rotor2 Rotor1 Rotor2 Fx R1.sub.Fx R2.sub.Fx R3.sub.Fx R4.sub.Fx R5.sub.Fx R6.sub.Fx P1_R1.sub.Fx P1_R2.sub.Fx P2_R1.sub.Fx P2_R2.sub.Fx Fy R1.sub.Fy R2.sub.Fy R3.sub.Fy R4.sub.Fy R5.sub.Fy R6.sub.Fy P1_R1.sub.Fy P1_R2.sub.Fy P2_R1.sub.Fy P2_R2.sub.Fy Fz R1.sub.Fz R2.sub.Fz R3.sub.Fz R4.sub.Fz R5.sub.Fz R6.sub.Fz P1_R1.sub.Fz P1_R2.sub.Fz P2_R1.sub.Fz P2_R2.sub.Fx Mx R1.sub.Mx R2.sub.Mx R3.sub.Mx R4.sub.Mx R5.sub.Mx R6.sub.Mx P1_R1.sub.Mx P1_R2.sub.Mx P2_R1.sub.Mx P2_R2.sub.Mx My R1.sub.My R2.sub.My R3.sub.My R4.sub.My R5.sub.My R6.sub.My P1_R1.sub.My P1_R2.sub.My P2_R1.sub.My P2_R2.sub.My Mz R1.sub.Mz R2.sub.Mz R3.sub.Mz R4.sub.Mz R5.sub.Mz R6.sub.Mz P1_R1.sub.Mz P1_R2.sub.Mz P2_R1.sub.Mz P2_R2.sub.Mz

(18) This correlation is also shown in FIG. 2 which illustrates a balanced aircraft 1 during hover or low velocity forward flight in nominal condition, hence with no rotor failure. The lifting propellers 2 all rotate essentially at the same speed, yet with different rotational directions (as shown by the respective arrows in FIG. 2), and thus produce essentially the same amount of torque each. This results in essentially no residual yawing moment about the aircrafts yaw axis (z axis).

(19) In case of failure of one rotor, as example the front right rotor R1, as shown in FIG. 3, the remaining rotors R2-R6, have to compensate lift, pitch, roll and yaw. Typically, in the prior art, the opposite rotor (i.e., R6) is turned off in order to sustain the aircraft's controllability. The aircraft 1 has to balance its total weight on the remaining four rotors R2-R5, leading to a very high thrust level and therefore high RPM (rotations per minute), torque, energy consumption, and noise.

(20) According to FIG. 3, it is proposed not to turn off but to use the opposite rotor R6 of the failed rotor R1, even though preferably at a reduced speed, in order to reduce the overpower needed by the remaining rotors R2-R6. This reduces the required weight and size of the motor design, but creates an unwanted yawing moment Mz (“unbalanced yaw”, moment around yaw axis z). This moment is compensated by the pushing units 3 (P1, P2) which comprise at least two coaxial internal fan stages or internal rotors _R1, _R2 in order to create thrust and torque independently of each other.

(21) For normal operational condition, cf. FIG. 2a, the pushers P1 and P2 with their internal Rotors _R1 and _R2 are operated as seen in the figure. “CW” denotes clockwise rotation, while “CCW” stands for counter-clockwise. The rotors of pusher P1 create a summed forward directed force 2*F1=P1_R1+P1_R2, similar to the pusher P2 which also creates a forward directed force 2*F1=P2_R1+P2_R2.

(22) Preferably, the pushers P1, P2 (just like the lifters R1-R6, cf. FIG. 2) are electrically driven, so that the thrust can be reversed if needed. This may be used to create a thrust in the opposite direction. For the situation that the aircraft 1 (FIG. 1) has an unbalanced yaw moment about the positive z-axis, the pusher rotor P2_R1 (i.e., the rotor _R1 of pusher P2) may be operated to create a longitudinal force −P2_R1.sub.Fx in the x-direction while the second stage P2_R2 of the same pusher, which rotates in opposite direction, creates a force of −P2_R2.sub.Fx which equals −P2_R1.sub.Fx, thus yielding Fx.sub.total=−2*P2_R1.sub.Fx.

(23) Since the total longitudinal (roll) moment Mx thus created equals zero since the coaxial stages act opposite to each other (Mx(P2_R1)=+P2_R1.sub.Mx and Mx(P2_R2)=−P2_R2.sub.Mx), the pushers do not create a roll moment. The total yawing moment Mz which is necessary to counterbalance the yawing motion of the aircraft 1 (cf. FIG. 1) is Mz.sub.total=−2*P2_R1.sub.Fx*y. This is because the pusher propellers create the respective moments Mz(P2_R1)=−P2_R1.sub.Fx*(+y) and Mz(P2_R2)=−P2_R2.sub.Fx*(+y).

(24) The exact opposite will be the case if the unbalanced yaw moment has to be produced about the negative z-axis. This is summarized in the table according to FIG. 4.

(25) The unbalanced yawing moment can be compensated by having two opposing moments (yet without any additional roll-moment Mx and with a longitudinal force Fx as stated above). In the case of FIG. 5, these are Mz(P1)=+2F1*(−y) of pusher P1 (top) and Mz(P2)=−2F1*(+y) of pusher P2 (bottom), wherein F1 replaces P1_R1.sub.Fx and P1_R2.sub.Fx as well as P2_R1.sub.Fx and P2_R2.sub.Fx. This yields as the resulting moment Mz=−4F1*y.

(26) In case of an unbalanced roll moment about the positive x-axis (roll) of the aircraft the following can be done, cf. FIG. 7. Only the clockwise rotating rotor stages P1_R2 and P2_R2 are operated, which produce positive torque Mx. The longitudinal forces Fx(P1_R2)=−P1_R2.sub.Fx and Fx(P2_R2)=−P2_R2.sub.Fx=−P1_R2.sub.Fx add up to a total force of Fx.sub.total=−2*P1_R2.sub.Fx, =F1+F2. The total moment about the roll axis equals Mx.sub.total=−2*P1_R2.sub.Mx, and is the sum of Mx(P1_R2)=−P1_R2.sub.Mx, and Mx(P2_R2)=−P2_R2.sub.Mx, =−P1_R2.sub.Mx. The total yawing moment equals zero since the Mz of counterrotating propellers are directed oppositely.

(27) The exact opposite will be the case if the unbalanced roll moment has to be produced about the negative x axis. This is summarized in the table according to FIG. 6.

(28) FIGS. 8 to 10 each show comparisons of various values between the case of an aircraft with no pushers (conventional hexacopter; top), an aircraft with at least one single stage pusher (conventional hexacopter with two single stage pusher propellers as known from prior art; middle) and an aircraft according to the present invention (bottom) having at least one dual stage pusher, i.e., a forward propulsion device with at least two rotors that are arranged coaxially with a rotation axis that is essentially parallel to the roll axis (x) of the aircraft.

(29) The three graphs in FIG. 8 show the comparison of longitudinal and vertical (lift) forces and the main moments Mx (Roll), My (Pitch), and Mz (Yaw) with all three variants at the same power/thrust level for simpler comparison. Depicted are four cases, i.e., no fail, fail of lifter R1, fail of lifter R3, and fail of lifter R5, respectively (cf. FIG. 2). The same holds for FIGS. 9 and 10.

(30) It can be easily seen that at the same power level the invention (bottom) nicely levels out the unbalanced forces and moments in case of the failure of either lifter R1, lifter R3, or lifter R5. For the “no pusher” variant (top) the moments Mx and Mz are highly unbalanced, leading to a yaw and roll motion in hover, especially in forward flight. In this flight condition, the yaw motion is particularly uncontrollable, as stated in the above, which leads to a potential crash of the aircraft. In case two pushers are added with a single stage (middle), the moments Mx and Mz are somewhat reduced in comparison with the “no pusher” variant (top), but still limit the operation of the aircraft, hence creating an unwanted motion of the aircraft. The negative value of Mz shown in FIG. 8 (top, middle) is due to the rotation of the opposite lifter propeller (i.e. lifter R6, R4, R2, respectively), which creates a moment in the opposite direction.

(31) The longitudinal force Fx, which leads to a forward motion of the aircraft, will appear in the middle and bottom cases since a balancing of moments will always lead to a forward directed Fx force. This is because in order to reduce the yawing moment Mz, a force Fx has to be generated which also leads to a higher rolling moment Mx. In contrast to this, in the dual stage variant (bottom), since the pusher propellers rotate coaxially and can be operated at significant lower RPM, they produce no or only minimal roll moment Mx while having the desired thrust to compensate Mz. This leads to an additional degree of freedom that the flight controller (cf. reference numeral 5 in FIG. 1) can use for aircraft stabilization.

(32) The three graphs in FIG. 9 show a comparison of RPM values of the above-described balancing for the same cases as in FIG. 8. The variant without any pusher (top) has highly unbalanced roll and yaw moment in case of a rotor fail, which leads to a potential crash, since there is basically no balancing, or to a highly reduced controllability especially during forward flight. The single stage pusher variant (middle) tries to compensate the failure of one lifting propeller with its pusher, yet, as stated, unwanted residual forces will remain. The dual stage propeller (bottom) can reduce RPM significantly, leading to an enhanced control of the moment Mx independent of the thrust. Also shown is that an RPM value of the mentioned opposing propeller (e.g., R6 in case of failure or R1) is increased (for supporting the remaining lifters (R2 to R5) since the pusher can compensate the additional roll and yaw moments generated by the opposing lifting rotor R6. The same holds for lifters R4 and R2 in the case of failure of lifters R3 and R5, respectively.

(33) The three graphs in FIG. 10 show a comparison of power consumption of the above-described balancing for the same cases as in FIG. 8. As mentioned above, the power levels of the three variants are set to an equal level in order to enable comparison. It can be gathered from FIG. 10 that if the variant with single stage pusher (middle) or without pusher (top) shall balance the aircraft forces, this will lead to significantly higher overall power demand which then leads to additional weight (through required heavier motors and/or additional battery capacity).

(34) The above-described situations of failure of one lifting rotor are extreme conditions in which power consumption of the remaining rotors have to be reduced. However, reducing unbalanced yawing and rolling moments, as proposed by the invention, may also be used beneficial in nominal flight conditions with full operational lifting rotors. As the basic principle of the invention is to create an additional degree of freedom (DoF) it improves the general controllability of the aircraft also during hover conditions in terms of quicker yaw and roll control. This may be used for gust response or during landing operations. In case of low to mid speed maneuvering, the main lifting rotors may be exposed to less torque/power consumption due to assistance by the coaxial pushers, which may lead to less overpower demand which enables to use lighter lifting motors.

(35) It will be easily acknowledged by the skilled person that the present invention is not limited to only two pushers. In case of a design with one or multiple (more than two) pushing units with dual stage rotors, the inventive method can also be applied successfully.