Patent ID: 6834829
Filing Date: 2004-12-28
Classification: B64C

Abstract:
A vertical lift aircraft comprisinga cabin; an enclosed rotary wing comprising an annular housing mounted to said cabin and having an inner wall circumscribing a space open at a top and at a bottom of said housing for air flow therethrough, and a flexible main rotor blade rotatably disposed in said space to provide vertical lift for said aircraft, said space including a downdraft area beneath said main rotor blade, said main rotor blade including a plurality of main rotor blade members having a symmetrically adjustable pitch to control vertical directional movements of said aircraft; a power source for driving the main rotor blade to rotate; and a horizontal directional control for controlling horizontal movements of said aircraft during flight and comprising a plurality of control slides slidably disposed in corresponding slots in said housing, each of said control slides being selectively slidable in a direction radial to said housing between a neutral position in which said control slide is retracted from said downdraft area to an operational position in which said control slide is extended into said downdraft area, said aircraft moving horizontally in the direction of a selected one of said control slides moved to said operational position.