Patent ID: 11932428
Assignee: THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  F | IPC B  F

Claim 17:
18. A method for directing a rotary-wing, hover-capable aircraft along a flightpath, comprising:
(a) launching the aircraft from a projectile launcher positioned at a launch location such that a rotor assembly of the aircraft is located at a downstream end thereof as the aircraft is launched from the projectile launcher;
(b) actuating a rotor blade of the rotor assembly of the aircraft from a stowed configuration to a deployed configuration that is circumferentially spaced from the stowed configuration about a pivot axis;
(c) activating a motor assembly coupled to the rotor assembly to rotate the rotor blade;
(d) activating a thrust vectoring assembly comprising an annular gimbal assembly having a receptacle that receives the motor assembly to pivot the motor assembly relative to an airframe of the aircraft about a pair of orthogonal axes; and
(e) hovering the aircraft at a deployment location that is spaced from the launch location.