Tiltrotor aircraft having vertical lift and hover augmentation

A tiltrotor aircraft having a helicopter flight mode and an airplane flight mode, the tiltrotor aircraft comprising:

• a fuselage;
• a wing supported by the fuselage, the wing having upper and lower surfaces with a plurality of channels extending therebetween;
• a plurality of cycloidal rotor propulsion assemblies, each disposed within one of the channels of the wing;
• at least two pylon assemblies, each rotatably coupled to the wing to selectively operate the tiltrotor aircraft between the helicopter flight mode and the airplane flight mode, each pylon assembly including a mast and a proprotor assembly operable to rotate with the mast to generate thrust;
• and at least one engine providing torque and rotational energy to the proprotor assemblies and the propulsion assemblies;
• wherein, each of the propulsion assemblies has a plurality of blades that travels in a generally circular path and has a plurality of pitch angle configurations such that each propulsion assembly is operable to generate a variable thrust and a variable thrust vector, thereby providing vertical lift and hover augmentation to the proprotor assemblies in the helicopter flight mode.