An aircraft for high-speed flight comprising a fuselage, a main plane or wing and a retractable stabilizer or empennage comprising aerofoils adapted and profiled for subsonic flight conditions and arranged to produce, when deployed, a lift-giving rise to a nose-up pitching moment.

This invention concerns aircraft including a gas turbine engine mounted for pivotal movement with respect to aircraft fixed structure, a fuel control unit for said engine having a rotary portion rotation of which adjusts the fuel supply to said engine, a control mechanism for rotating said rotary member, said mechanism being spaced from the pivot axis of the said engine, the said mechanism comprising a manually adjustable member, a first member mounted within said fixed structure and displaceabl...

Stability of a delta-shaped lifting body is improved by compensating for excessive rolling moment due to sideslip that results from high sweep angle. The compensation is achieved by providing outboard surfaces disposed at negative dihedral angles or by shaping the lifting body itself so that there exists an effective negative dihedral. Where outboard surfaces are used, they can be swept forward to decrease the rate of change of dihedral effect with respect to angle of attack, and to produce the ...

An aircraft of reduced drag adapted for buoyancy upon the thrust stream of its engines. The aircraft having a forwardly disposed base having a generally horizontally disposed upper surface, first and second platforms arranged in stepped relationship to the base, a pair of upwardly and outwardly extended sides interconnecting the base and platforms; a first set of engines adapted to draw air from above the base and thrust the air rearwardly below the first platform; a second set of engines adapte...

An aircraft engine assembly is provided for a V/STOL aircraft which comprises a longitudinally disposed continuously rated vectored thrust propulsion engine having its jet efflux issuing through two laterally spaced dirigible jet nozzles at its aft end, the positioning in the aircraft being such that when these two dirigible nozzles are down-turned to give lift their combined thrust line is a few inches forward of the aircraft center of gravity. Between the two laterally spaced dirigible nozzles...

An arrangement for the aerodynamic balancing of aircraft control surfaces in which the control surface has forward extension into a chamber within the airframe. This forward extension is coupled to a diaphragm which spans the chamber in a fore-and-aft direction and is in substantial sealing relationship with the fore-and-aft walls of the chamber. The diaphragm moves laterally with movement of the control surface, and the chamber is thereby effectively partitioned into two variable volume spaces ...

An aircraft fuselage includes an outer skin and at least one main deck separating an interior space of the aircraft fuselage longitudinally into a first space and a second space. At least one portion of the first space is divided into at least three longitudinal zones, and the at least three longitudinal zones include at least one central zone and at least two lateral zones. The at least one central zone is divided into three sectors, and the three sectors include a front sector, a central secto...

A method of steering an aircraft, and an aircraft comprising a supporting structure, at least one utility space, at least two propellers whose axles are arranged horizontally, and a driving mechanism to rotate each propeller. The blade angles of at least one propeller of the aircraft are adjusted as a function of a rotation angle of the propeller such that the blow power of the propellers provides the aircraft with a lifting force, and after take-off of the aircraft the blade angles of the prope...

The aircraft comprises a central cabin, which is located in the center of a circular wing. Several pivotal electric drive units are arranged in a gap between the central cabin and the circular ring. In hover flight, the drive units are pivoted to generate a lift. When the aircraft goes into cruise flight, the drive units are pivoted to generate a forward thrust. Attitude and movements of the aircraft can be controlled by individual or common adjustment of the thrust and pivot angle of the drive ...

An aircraft and method of manufacture therefor are provided. A fuselage is formed of composite materials and in at least two sections, each section having an integral, internal longeron spanning a length of the sections. The sections are connected by slidingly engaging a male dovetail connector on a longeron of one section with a female dovetail connector on a longeron of another section. Outer edges of the sections of the fuselage have tongue-and-groove connectors that engage to fasten the edge...