Lift fan assembly for an aircraft

A lift fan assembly for an aircraft, the lift fan assembly comprising:

• a rotor comprising:
• a fan including plurality of fan blades rotatable about a rotational axis in a circumferential direction, the plurality of fan blades extending outward in a radial direction from the rotational axis, each of the plurality of fan blades having a fan blade tip;
• an outer band including an inner surface and an outer surface, the outer surface located radially outward of the inner surface, the outer band circumscribing the plurality of fan blades, wherein the fan blade tips are connected to the inner surface of the outer band;
• a plurality of outer airfoils extending radially outward from the outer surface of the outer band, wherein the plurality of outer airfoils are configured to rotate about the rotational axis in the circumferential direction;
• and
• an inlet nozzle positioned and oriented to direct air as rotating air in a rotating airflow direction, the rotating airflow direction being transverse to the radial direction and having a component in a direction tangential to the circumferential direction, wherein the inlet nozzle is configured to inject the rotating air to impinge on outer airfoils of the plurality of outer airfoils and to rotate the plurality of outer airfoils, thereby rotating the plurality of fan blades.