Telescoping tail assemblies for use on aircraft

A propulsion assembly for an aircraft, the propulsion assembly having a fore-aft length, the propulsion assembly comprising:

• a nacelle having forward and aft ends;
• a rotor assembly coupled to the forward end of the nacelle;
• and
• a telescoping tail assembly at the aft end of the nacelle, the telescoping tail assembly comprising:
• a housing extending in an aftward direction;
• a tailboom slidable along the housing into a plurality of positions including an extended position and a retracted position;
• a jackscrew coupled to the tailboom, the jackscrew coaxial with the tailboom;
• an actuator coupled to the jackscrew, the actuator configured to selectively rotate the jackscrew to translate the tailboom between the plurality of positions;
• and
• one or more control surfaces coupled to the tailboom;
• wherein, a portion of the tailboom and the jackscrew are disposed within the housing;
• wherein, the jackscrew is coaxial with the housing such that the jackscrew, the housing and the tailboom are coaxial in both the extended and retracted positions;
• wherein, the tailboom increases the fore-aft length of the propulsion assembly in the extended position and decreases the fore-aft length of the propulsion assembly in the retracted position;
• and
• wherein, the actuator is configured to automatically move the tailboom into the retracted position upon landing.

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;
• and
• a thrust array attached to the airframe, the thrust array including a plurality of propulsion assemblies each having a fore-aft length, each propulsion assembly comprising:
• a nacelle having forward and aft ends;
• a rotor assembly coupled to the forward end of the nacelle;
• and
• a telescoping tail assembly at the aft end of the nacelle, the telescoping tail assembly comprising:
• a housing extending in an aftward direction;
• a tailboom slidable along the housing into a plurality of positions including an extended position and a retracted position;
• a jackscrew coupled to the tailboom, the jackscrew coaxial with the tailboom;
• an actuator coupled to the jackscrew, the actuator configured to selectively rotate the jackscrew to translate the tailboom between the plurality of positions;
• and
• one or more control surfaces coupled to the tailboom;
• wherein, a portion of the tailboom and the jackscrew are disposed within the housing;
• wherein, the jackscrew is coaxial with the housing such that the jackscrew, the housing and the tailboom are coaxial in both the extended and retracted positions;
• wherein, the tailboom increases the fore-aft length of each propulsion assembly in the extended position and decreases the fore-aft length of each propulsion assembly in the retracted position;
• and
• wherein, the actuator is configured to automatically move the tailboom into the retracted position upon landing.