Aeronautical vehicle and method of transitioning between flight modes for an aeronautical vehicle

An aeronautical vehicle configured to perform horizontal flight, vertical flight or a combination thereof, the aeronautical vehicle having a longitudinal axis, a lateral axis and a vertical axis, and comprising a fuselage extending along the longitudinal axis, and a wing assembly having a first wing part and a second wing part being rigidly coupled to one another, wherein the first wing part and the second wing part extend in opposite directions,

• the aeronautical vehicle further comprising a rotor assembly, at least one horizontal thruster for horizontal thrust, and an attitude control system,
• wherein the wing assembly is arranged rotatably with respect to the fuselage about a first pivot axis extending vertically at a first location on the fuselage,
• wherein the wing assembly is configured to be driven to rotate between a wing assembly stow position in which the wing assembly extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis, and a wing assembly active position in which the wing assembly extends substantially orthogonally to the longitudinal axis and the vertical axis,
• wherein the rotor assembly comprises two vertical thrust rotors being arranged on a rotor support at a distance from each other along a line, wherein the rotor support is arranged rotatably with respect to the fuselage about a second pivot axis extending vertically at a second location on the fuselage and on said line halfway between the vertical thrust rotors, wherein the rotor assembly is configured to be driven to rotate between a rotor assembly stow position in which said line extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis, and a rotor assembly active position in which said line extends substantially orthogonally to the longitudinal axis and the vertical axis,
• the aeronautical vehicle further comprising a drive system adapted to drive the rotation of the wing assembly between the wing assembly stow position and the wing assembly active position, and to drive the rotation of the rotor assembly between the rotor assembly stow position and the rotor assembly active position,
• wherein the aeronautical vehicle is operable to transition between a horizontal flight mode, in which the wing assembly is in the wing assembly active position and the rotor assembly is in the rotor assembly stow position, and a vertical flight mode, in which the wing assembly is in the wing assembly stow position and the rotor assembly is in the rotor assembly active position.