VTOL personal aircraft

In an aircraft comprising a fuselage with a longitudinal fuselage axis and an elongate fixed wing having a longitudinal wing axis extending transversely to said fuselage axis, an upper surface, a lower surface and a cross-sectional profile, transverse to said wing axis, forming a wing airfoil, the improvement comprising a plurality of ducted fan units arranged in said wing, each ducted fan unit having a impeller, rotatable about an impeller axis, and a circular duct arranged concentrically with said impeller axis and surrounding said impeller, said circular duct having an outlet opening with a central axis, and means for varying the direction of said impeller axis to vary the direction of thrust of said ducted fan unit, whereby the pitch of the aircraft may be controlled by varying the direction of thrust of said ducted fan units,

• wherein the lift-to-drag ratio of the aircraft resulting from forward motion of the craft through the air and excluding vertical lift provided by said ducted fan units is greater than 4:1 with the aircraft flying at a cruising speed in the range of 50 to 100 MPH, and
• wherein said thrusters, including the impeller axis thereof, are movable between a first position in which the provide vertical lift and a second position in which they provide horizontal thrust.

In an aircraft comprising a fuselage with a central longitudinal axis and an elongate fixed wing having a longitudinal wing axis extending transversely to said central axis, an upper surface, a lower surface and a cross-sectional profile, transverse to said wing axis, forming a wing airfoil, the improvement comprising a plurality of ducted fan units arranged in said wing, each ducted fan unit having a impeller, rotatable about an impeller axis, and a circular duct arranged concentrically with said impeller axis and surrounding said impeller, at least some of said ducted fan units having means for controlling the angle of the impeller axes thereof with respect to the vertical, whereby components of thrust may be imparted to said aircraft in the vertical direction and in a direction transverse to the vertical, and wherein the lift-to-drag ratio of the aircraft resulting from forward motion of the craft through the air and excluding vertical lift provided by said ducted fan units is greater than 4:1 with the aircraft flying at a cruising speed in the range of 50 to 100 MPH.

In an aircraft comprising (a) a fuselage with a central, longitudinal, fuselage axis extending through a center of gravity of the aircraft, and (b) an elongate fixed wing having a longitudinal wing axis extending transversely to the direction of said fuselage axis and extending in the direction of said fuselage axis, from a leading edge to a trailing edge, both in front of and behind said center of gravity, said wing having an upper surface, a lower surface and a cross-sectional profile, transverse to said wing axis, forming a wing airfoil, the improvement comprising a plurality of ducted fan units arranged in said wing, each ducted fan unit having a impeller, rotatable about an impeller axis, and a circular duct arranged concentrically with said impeller axis and surrounding said impeller, said circular duct having an inlet opening surfaces which extend smoothly into said upper surface of said wing, wherein the lift-to-drag ratio of the aircraft resulting from forward motion of the craft through the air and excluding vertical lift provided by said ducted fan units is greater than 4:1 with the aircraft flying at a cruising speed in the range of 50 to 100 MPH, and

• wherein said ducted fan units, including the impeller axes thereof, are movable between a first position in which they provide vertical lift and a second position in which they provide horizontal thrust.

In an aircraft comprising a fuselage with a central longitudinal axis and an elongate fixed wing having a longitudinal wing axis extending transversely to said central axis, an upper surface, a lower surface and a cross-sectional profile, transverse to said wing axis, forming a wing airfoil, the improvement comprising a plurality of ducted fan units arranged in said wing, each ducted fan unit having a impeller, rotatable about an impeller axis, and a circular duct arranged concentrically with said impeller axis and surrounding said impeller, at least some of said ducted fan units having an impeller axis disposed at an angle with respect to the vertical, whereby components of thrust may be imparted to said aircraft in the vertical direction and in a direction transverse to the vertical, wherein the lift-to-drag ratio of the aircraft resulting from forward motion of the craft through the air and excluding vertical lift provided by said ducted fan units is greater than 4:1 with the aircraft flying at a cruising speed in the range of 50 to 100 MPH, and

• wherein said ducted fan units, including the impeller axes thereof, are movable between a first position in which they provide vertical lift and a second position in which they provide horizontal thrust.