Patent ID: 7918416
Filing Date: 2011-04-05
Classification: B64C

Abstract:
1. A vehicle, comprising: a vehicle frame; a first duct carried by said vehicle frame at a forward end of said vehicle frame and a second duct carried by said vehicle frame at an aft end of said vehicle frame, with longitudinal axes of said first and second ducts arranged substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame; a propeller rotatably mounted within each of said first and second ducts, each propeller arranged to force an ambient fluid through its respective duct from an inlet at an upper end of the duct through an exit at a lower end of the duct, to thereby produce an upward lift force applied to the vehicle; and a plurality of parallel, pivotably mounted vanes extending across the inlet of each duct for rotation about respective axes substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axes of the ducts and substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, said vanes being selectively pivotable about said respective axes to produce a desired horizontal force component to the lift force applied to the vehicle.