VTOL aircraft capable of flying forward and backward

An aircraft, comprising:

• a cylindrical fuselage having a front end and a tail end, a radio frequency (RF) energy-permeable end cap mounted to the tail end, and an optically-clear front dome mounted to a front end;
• a sensor suite positioned within the fuselage proximate the optically-clear front dome and/or the RF energy-permeable end cap, wherein the sensor suite is configured to collect measurement data descriptive of a target landing surface during a multi-mode flight trajectory of the aircraft;
• an onboard power supply connected to the fuselage and having an electrochemical battery pack;
• a horizontal main wing connected to the fuselage;
• a vertical cross-wing arranged orthogonally with respect to the horizontal main wing, and including a plurality of drag flaps;
• an empennage assembly connected to a tail end of the fuselage, the empennage assembly including a vertical stabilizer and a horizontal stabilizer each with aerodynamic control surfaces;
• four propellers, including a first pair of propellers connected to the main wing and a second pair of propellers connected to the vertical cross-wing, wherein each respective one of the four propellers of the first pair of propellers and the second pair of propellers is connected to and powered by the onboard power supply and forms a canting angle of about 30° to about 45° with respect to the main wing or the vertical cross-wing;
• and
• an avionics system configured to control the multi-mode flight trajectory.

An avionics system for an aircraft, comprising:

• a sensor suite connectable to a fuselage of the aircraft;
• and
• a flight controller in communication with the sensor suite and first and second pairs of motor-driven propellers of the aircraft, wherein the motor-driven propellers is arranged at an acute canting angle, and wherein the flight controller is configured, in response to input signals from the sensor suite and a current state of the aircraft, to control:
• operation of the motor-driven propellers, via output control signals, during a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) mode, a hover mode, a forward wing-borne flight mode, and a backward wing-borne flight mode;
• and
• an attitude of the aircraft via flight control surfaces arranged on an empennage assembly connected to a tail end of the fuselage, a horizontal main wing, and a vertical cross-wing that bisects the horizontal main wing during a rapid descent mode during which the aircraft is controlled to descend at a predetermined rate of descent configured to prevent stalling of the propeller blades and catching of a propeller vortex, wherein the acute canting angle is formed between the motor-drive propellers and the horizontal main wing or the vertical cross-wing to which the motor-drive propellers are connected.