Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) fixed wing aircraft

A Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) fixed wing aircraft assembly, said assembly comprising:

• an airframe;
• said airframe comprising a fuselage, at least one wing fixedly attached to said fuselage, said wing having a leading edge and a trailing edge, said wing having a top surface and a bottom surface bounded by said leading and trailing edges,
• an air flow plenum contained within said airframe and extending between a plurality of main air intakes and a plurality of main air outlets, said air flow plenum including a compressor housing disposed between said main air intakes and said main air outlets, said compressor housing having upper and lower ends in direct fluid communication with said main air intakes, said compressor housing including a peripheral collector in direct fluid communication with said plurality of main air outlets,
• a centrifugal compressor assembly disposed within said compressor housing, said centrifugal compressor assembly comprising an upper impeller and a lower impeller, said upper and lower impellers disposed for counter-rotation about a generally vertical compressor axis, said upper impeller comprising a plurality of upper vanes contoured to draw air through said upper end of said compressor housing and drive air radially outwardly into said peripheral collector, said lower impeller comprising a plurality of lower vanes contoured to draw air through said lower end of said compressor housing and drive air radially outwardly into said peripheral collector,
• a drive system operatively coupled to said upper and lower impellers for rotating said upper and lower impellers about said compressor axis in opposite directions at substantially the same angular velocity,
• an articulable thrust augmentation duct operatively associated with each of said main air outlets, each said thrust augmentation duct being supported within an articulation mount enabling said thrust augmentation duct to pivot between a generally downwardly pointing VTOL position and a generally rearwardly pointing flight position,
• said plurality of main air intakes including at least one VTOL mode intake and at least one flight mode intake in communication with said lower end of said compressor housing, said at least one VTOL mode intake exposed through said top surface of said wing, said at least one flight mode intake exposed through said leading edge of said wing, and a controller for alternately closing said flight mode intake when said thrust augmentation duct is in said downwardly pointing VTOL position and closing said VTOL mode intake when said thrust augmentation duct is in said rearwardly pointing flight position.

A Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) fixed wing aircraft assembly, said assembly comprising:

• an airframe;
• said airframe comprising a fuselage, at least one wing attached to said fuselage, said wing having a leading edge and a trailing edge, said wing having a top surface and a bottom surface bounded by said leading and trailing edges,
• a forward thrust propulsion system, and
• a vertical thrust propulsion system,
• said vertical thrust propulsion system including an air flow plenum disposed within said airframe, said plenum extending between a plurality of main air intakes and a plurality of main air outlets, said plurality of main air intakes including a central intake disposed centrally along said fuselage, said central intake including louvers, said louvers being adjustable between at least a forward tilting condition and a rearward tilting condition, said plurality of main air intakes including a plurality of outlier intakes, said plurality of outlier intakes including at least one VTOL mode intake and at least one flight mode intake, said at least one VTOL mode intake being exposed through said top surface of said wing, said at least one flight mode intake being exposed through said leading edge of said wing, a compressor housing disposed between said main air intakes and said main air outlets, said compressor housing having upper and lower ends, said upper end of said compressor housing in direct fluid communication with said central intake, said lower end of said compressor housing in direct fluid communication with said plurality of outlier intakes, said compressor housing including a peripheral collector, said peripheral collector at least partially disposed in said wing, said peripheral collector having a quadrilateral shape defined by four discharge corners, said discharge corners arranged in an isosceles trapezoid pattern with two narrowly-spaced front corners and two widely-spaced rear discharge corners, each of said front and rear discharge corners being in direct fluid communication with plurality of main air outlets,
• a centrifugal compressor assembly disposed within said compressor housing of said plenum, said centrifugal compressor assembly including an upper impeller disposed for rotation in one direction about a generally vertical compressor axis, said upper impeller comprising a plurality of upper vanes supported upon an upper shaft section, said upper vanes being contoured to draw air through said central intake and drive air radially outwardly into said peripheral collector, an upper base plate supporting said upper vanes and commonly attached therewith to said upper shaft section, said centrifugal compressor assembly including a lower impeller disposed adjacent said upper impeller for counter-rotation about said compressor axis, said lower impeller comprising a plurality of lower vanes supported upon a lower shaft section, said lower vanes being contoured to draw air through said plurality of outlier intakes and drive air radially outwardly into said peripheral collector, a lower base plate supporting said lower vanes and commonly attached therewith to said lower shaft section, a drive system operatively coupled to said upper and lower impellers for rotating said upper and lower impellers about said compressor axis in opposite directions at substantially the same angular velocity,
• an articulable thrust augmentation duct operatively associated with each of said main air outlets, each said thrust augmentation duct being supported below said wing within an articulation mount, each said articulation mount enabling the respective said thrust augmentation duct to pivot between a generally downwardly pointing VTOL position and a generally rearwardly pointing flight position, each said thrust augmentation duct including a central nozzle in direct communication with one of said main air outlets of said plenum, each said thrust augmentation duct including a bypass sleeve disposed about said central nozzle, each said bypass sleeve having a terminal end extending past said central nozzle, said terminal end being scalloped, a plurality of augmentation air intakes, said augmentation air intakes including at least one wing-top augmentation intake and at least one leading edge augmentation intake, said bypass sleeve being configured to naturally aspirate air from said wing-top augmentation intake when said thrust augmentation duct is in said downwardly pointing VTOL position, said bypass sleeve being configured to naturally aspirate air from said leading edge augmentation intake when said thrust augmentation duct is in said rearwardly pointing flight position, an augmentation valve for selectively closing said leading edge augmentation intake when said thrust augmentation duct is in said downwardly pointing VTOL position and closing said wing-top augmentation intake when said thrust augmentation duct is in said rearwardly pointing flight position.