Patent ID: 11932387
Assignee: TEXTRON INNOVATIONS INC.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G  H | IPC B  G  H

Claim 0:
1. A tailsitter aircraft comprising:
an airframe;
a thrust array attached to the airframe, the thrust array including a plurality of propulsion assemblies configured to transition the airframe from a forward flight orientation having a horizontal attitude for wing-borne lift to a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) orientation having a vertical attitude for thrust-borne lift at a conversion rate for an approach to a target ground location in a forward flight-to-VTOL transition phase; and
a flight control system configured to independently control each of the propulsion assemblies, the flight control system implementing an adaptive transition system comprising:
a transition parameter monitoring module configured to monitor a plurality of parameters associated with the transition from the forward flight orientation to the VTOL orientation; and
a transition adjustment determination module configured to adjust the conversion rate of the airframe from the forward flight orientation to the VTOL orientation based on at least some of the parameters of the plurality of parameters monitored by the transition parameter monitoring module such that the airframe is substantially vertically aligned with the target ground location in the VTOL orientation of the forward flight-to-VTOL transition phase;
wherein, the parameters used by the transition adjustment determination module to adjust the conversion rate of the airframe consist of a ground speed and a distance to the target ground location.