Convertible biplane aircraft for autonomous cargo delivery

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

• a fuselage having an aerodynamic shape with a leading edge and a trailing edge separated by a chord length and first and second sides separated by a span length, the fuselage having a first cargo bay;
• a first swept wing coupled to the fuselage proximate the first side and a second swept wing coupled to the fuselage proximate the second side, such that the span length of the fuselage extends substantially perpendicularly between the first and second swept wings;
• with apexes of the first and second swept wings proximate the leading edge of the fuselage;
• a distributed thrust array including a first pair of propulsion assemblies coupled to the first swept wing and a second pair of propulsion assemblies coupled to the second swept wing;
• and
• a flight control system operably associated with the distributed thrust array and configured to independently control each of the propulsion assemblies;
• wherein, the first side of the fuselage includes a first door that is disposed between the propulsion assemblies of the first pair of propulsion assemblies, the first door configured to provide access to the first cargo bay from an exterior of the aircraft with a predetermined clearance relative to each of the propulsion assemblies of the first pair of propulsion assemblies;
• wherein, in the VTOL orientation, the first swept wing is substantially forward of the fuselage, the second swept wing is substantially aft of the fuselage and the propulsion assemblies are below the leading edge of the fuselage and below the apexes of the first and second swept wings;
• and
• wherein, in the biplane orientation, the first swept wing is substantially below the fuselage, the second swept wing is substantially above the fuselage, the propulsion assemblies are aft of the leading edge of the fuselage and aft of the apexes of the first and second swept wings and the first door is configured for cargo drop operations with the first side of the fuselage being a lower side of the fuselage.