Patent ID: 8087607

Claim:
An aircraft comprising: a tubular fuselage having a longitudinal axis; two main wings mounted to the tubular fuselage, each main wing in a substantially forward swept wing configuration and including a leading edge, a trailing edge, and an upper surface; a plurality of engines each with at least one unshrouded propeller, each engine mounted to the aircraft and including a leading end and a trailing end, wherein each engine has a central longitudinal axis that is directly above one of the two main wings, the engines and propellers completely above the main wings; an aft deck including a trailing edge and an upwardly rotatable pitch control surface at the trailing edge of the aft deck, the upwardly rotatable pitch control surface including a trailing edge; and a vertical stabilizer mounted outboard of each outermost engine at a vertical stabilizer mounting location at least in part on a respective main wing, at least in part on the aft deck, or a combination thereof, each vertical stabilizer including a tip, a base, and a trailing edge, wherein each vertical stabilizer extends higher than the uppermost point of any propeller of the respective engine, wherein the leading edge of each main wing extends forward of the leading end of each respective engine at a location along the central longitudinal axis of each engine, and wherein the trailing edge of the aft deck extends aft of the trailing end of each engine along the central longitudinal axis of each engine at least a distance as great as the distance from the upper surface of each main wing to the uppermost point of any propeller of the respective outermost engine.