VTOL aircraft for external load operations

An aircraft operable to transition between thrust-borne lift in a VTOL orientation and wing-borne lift in a biplane orientation, the aircraft comprising:

• an airframe having first and second wings having wingtips and first and second pylons extending between the first and second wings inboard of the wingtips, the first and second wings each having first and second inboard nacelle stations positioned proximate the first and second pylons and first and second outboard nacelle stations positioned outboard of the first and second pylons proximate the wingtips, the first and second pylons each having an inboard nacelle station, the airframe having a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis in the VTOL orientation;
• a two-dimensional distributed thrust array attached to the airframe, the thrust array including a plurality of non thrust vectoring inboard propulsion assemblies and a plurality of omnidirectional thrust vectoring outboard propulsion assemblies, the inboard propulsion assemblies coupled to the inboard nacelle stations of the wings and the pylons, the outboard propulsion assemblies coupled to the outboard nacelle stations proximate the wingtips of the wings;
• a flight control system coupled to the airframe and operable to independently control each of the propulsion assemblies;
• and
• a cargo hook module coupled between the first and second pylons, the cargo hook module operable for external load operations;
• wherein, in the VTOL orientation, the first wing is forward of the cargo hook module and the second wing is aft of the cargo hook module;
• and
• wherein, in the biplane orientation, the first wing is below the cargo hook module and the second wing is above the cargo hook module.