Patent ID: 9365290
Filing Date: 2016-06-14
CPC Classification: B64C,G05D

Claim Text:
1. An aircraft, comprising: a fuselage having a nose end and a second, opposing end defined as a tail end, a forward direction being defined as towards the nose end of the fuselage and an aft direction being defined as opposite to the forward direction; a wing coupled to the fuselage between the nose end and the tail end; a duct coupled to the fuselage at a point between a location where the wing is coupled to the fuselage and the tail end of the fuselage, a forward edge of the duct being disposed aft of the tail end of the fuselage; a propulsion unit coupled to a fan in the duct and operable with the fan to generate a thrust at least equal to a weight of the aircraft; and a controller operable to (1) control the aircraft in a vertical flight mode in which a first lifting force generated by the ducted fan is greater than a second lifting force generated by the wing, (2) control the aircraft in a horizontal flight mode in which the second lifting force is greater than the first lifting force, and (3) transition the aircraft from the vertical flight mode to the horizontal flight mode.