Patent ID: 11919629
Assignee: VERDEGO AERO, INC.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 13:
14. A vertical takeoff and landing aircraft comprising:
a fuselage;
a passenger compartment within the fuselage;
at least two front propellers located ahead of a center of gravity of the vertical takeoff and landing aircraft with at least one of the front propellers positioned on each side of the fuselage; and
at least two aft propellers located behind the center of gravity with at least one of the front propellers positioned on each side of the fuselage; wherein:
a front axis of thrust of each of the at least two front propellers is substantially perpendicular to a front thrust vectoring axis, wherein the at least two front propellers are positioned ahead of the front thrust vectoring axis in a horizontal flight mode, and wherein the at least two front propellers and the front axis of thrust of each of the at least two front propellers are configured to be rotated around the front thrust vectoring axis;
an aft axis of thrust of each of the at least two aft propellers is substantially perpendicular to an aft thrust vectoring axis, wherein the at least two aft propellers are positioned aft of the aft thrust vectoring axis in the horizontal flight mode, and wherein the at least two aft propellers and the aft axis of thrust of each of the at least two aft propellers are configured to be rotated around the aft thrust vectoring axis;
an upper limit to a reinforced portion of the fuselage wherein a first portion of the fuselage below the upper limit is reinforced to prevent debris from a propeller failure from causing damage to occupants within the fuselage, and wherein a second portion of the fuselage above the upper limit is not reinforced to prevent debris from a propeller failure from causing damage to occupants within the fuselage;
front thrust offset distances are defined between rotational planes of the at least two front propellers and the front thrust vectoring axis, wherein the front thrust offset distances are greater than a first vertical distance from the front thrust vectoring axis to a top of the passenger compartment;
aft thrust offset distances are defined between rotational planes of the at least two aft propellers and the aft thrust vectoring axis, wherein the aft thrust offset distances are greater than a second vertical distance from the aft thrust vectoring axis to the upper limit of the reinforced portion of the fuselage;
while the at least two front propellers rotate around the front thrust vectoring axis between positions associated with the horizontal flight mode and a vertical flight mode, the rotational planes of the at least two front propellers do not intersect with the second portion of the fuselage that is not reinforced; and
while the at least two aft propellers rotate around the aft thrust vectoring axis between the positions associated with the horizontal flight mode and the vertical flight mode, the rotational planes of the at least two aft propellers do not intersect with the second portion of the fuselage that is not reinforced.