Patent ID: 9694906
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: B64C

Claim:
1. A vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising: a fuselage having a top end, a bottom end, and opposed forward and rear portions, the fuselage being elongated along a roll axis thereof; a pair of fixed forward-swept wings mounted on the rear portion of the fuselage; a pair of canards mounted on the top end of the forward portion of the fuselage, each canard extending from the forward portion, parallel to the pitch axis, and terminating with a free end; wherein the canards are positioned above the pair of fixed forward-swept wings with respect to the fuselage; a nose positioned forward of the pair of canards; a pair of ducted fans mounted on the free ends of the pair of canards, the ducted fans being selectively rotatable about an axis parallel to a pitch axis of the fuselage; an engine mounted in the rear portion of the fuselage; and a thrust vectoring nozzle mounted on the rear portion of the fuselage for directing thrust exhaust from the engine, the thrust vectoring nozzle being selectively rotatable about an axis parallel to the pitch axis of the fuselage, whereby the ducted fans and the thrust vectoring nozzle may be selectively rotated about an axis parallel to the pitch axis of the fuselage to direct fan exhaust from the ducted fans and the thrust exhaust from the engine downward along a yaw axis of the fuselage for vertical takeoff and landing, and the ducted fans and the thrust vectoring nozzle may be selectively rotated about the pitch axis of the fuselage to direct the fan exhaust from the ducted fans and the thrust exhaust from the engine rearward along the roll axis of the fuselage for horizontal flight.