1068 results about "Flapping wing" patented technology

A vertical takeoff and landing aircraft having a fuselage with three wings and six synchronously tilt-able propulsion units, each one mounted above, below, or on each half of the aforementioned three wings. The propulsion units are vertical for vertical flight, and horizontal for forward flight. The aircraft wings are placed such that the rear wing is above the middle wing which is placed above the front wing. The placement of each of the propulsion units relative to the center of gravity of the aircraft about the vertical axis inherently assures continued stability in vertical flight mode, following the loss of thrust from any one propulsion unit. The placement of the propulsion units, viewing the aircraft from the front, is such that each propulsion units' thrust wake does not materially disturb the propulsion unit to its rear. When engine driven propellers or rotors are utilized, flapped wing panels are attached outboard of the forward and / or rearward propulsion units to provide yaw control during vertical flight.

This disclosure provides a solar rechargeable aircraft that is inexpensive to produce, is steerable, and can remain airborne almost indefinitely. The preferred aircraft is a span-loaded flying wing, having no fuselage or rudder. Traveling at relatively slow speeds, and having a two-hundred foot wingspan that mounts photovoltaic cells on most all of the wing's top surface, the aircraft uses only differential thrust of its eight propellers to turn. Each of five segments of the wing has one or more motors and photovoltaic arrays, and produces its own lift independent of the other segments, to avoid loading them. Five two-sided photovoltaic arrays, in all, are mounted on the wing, and receive photovoltaic energy both incident on top of the wing, and which is incident also from below, through a bottom, transparent surface. The aircraft includes hinges and actuators capable of providing an adjustable dihedral for the wing. The actuators can be motors or control surfaces. Alternately, the actuators can be movable masses within the wing, which may be capable of deforming the wing to alter the aerodynamics of the wing, and thereby actuate the hinges. Because of wing dihedral, the aircraft includes motors both above and below the center of drag, and the aircraft uses differential thrust to control aircraft pitch. The aircraft has a wide variety of applications, which include serving as a long term high altitude platform that serves to link a ground station using radio wave signals and a satellite using optical signals.