The invention relates to an engine for an aircraft. The engine includes an engine housing having a drive shaft and a power output shaft. The power output shaft and the drive shaft are separately journalled within the engine housing. The power output shaft includes a propeller at a front end for providing propulsive thrust for the aircraft. The aft end of the power output shaft extends aft of the engine housing. The drive shaft is rotatably coupled to the aft end of the power output shaft by a ge...

The present invention is embodied in a polyurethane composition suitable for coating, casting or laminating, which incorporates a prescribed additive selected to increase the composition's electrical conductivity without adversely affecting the composition's transparency and percent haze and without adversely affecting its adhesion to an underlying substrate or its environmental durability, especially with regard to humidity resistance. The prescribed additive is an ionizable metal salt of a per...

An improved aerobatic aircraft design having a first engine located in the nose portion of the fuselage and a second engine located in the tail portion of the fuselage. The thrust components of both the first and second engines are coaxial along the long axis of the fuselage. Both engines can individually provide sufficient power for the aircraft to takeoff, maintain altitude, and/or land.

An amphibious airplane having an engine assembly mounted at a top center location in the fuselage, and a tail assembly having a horizontal fin in an elevated position so as to be in the propeller air stream. A lift augmenting aerodynamic surface is positioned at the top middle portion of the aircraft fuselage, with the propeller being at the concavely curved rear end of the lift augmenting surface. A pair of platforms are positioned on opposite sides of the fuselage at lower locations adjacent t...

An amphibious airplane having an engine assembly mounted at a top center location in the fuselage, and a tail assembly having a horizontal fin in an elevated position so as to be in the propeller air stream. A lift augmenting aerodynamic surface is positioned at the top middle portion of the aircraft fuselage, with the propeller being at the concavely curved rear end of the lift augmenting surface. A pair of platforms are positioned on opposite sides of the fuselage at lower locations adjacent t...

A lift rotor assembly for a compound aircraft having a fuselage, including at least one circular disk structure with a plurality of bladelets spaced peripherally thereabout, a drive shaft coupled to a power source at a first end for rotating the drive shaft at low torque, a hub coupled to each circular disk structure and being located concentrically about the drive shaft, a gear drive coupled to a second end of the drive shaft opposite the first drive shaft end, and a first gear coupled to the g...

A method of manufacture of an aircraft comprising the manufacture of a range of interconnectable demountable structural modules and assembly of one of a plurality of aircraft variants by the selection and assembly of a pre-determined set of said structural modules.

A roadable aircraft capable of flying as well as road travel. The wings of the roadable aircraft are defined by inner and outer wing panels. The outer wing panels are folded with a fold mechanism that rotates each of the outer wing panels from a substantially horizontal extended flying position to a substantially vertical extended position and then folds each of the outer panels into a direction parallel to the travel direction defined by the fuselage. An operator controlled selectable drive mec...

An aircraft construction having an aircraft engine and an engine nacelle having a wall housing the engine. A cowl door is provided in the wall of the nacelle providing access to the engine to service it. An exhaust duct extends from the engine through the cowl door. The exhaust duct has a first duct section with an outlet end extending from the engine toward the cowl door with its outlet end adjacent the cowl door. The exhaust duct includes a second, separate duct section, having an inlet end, m...

A roadable aircraft includes three symmetrically lateral flight surfaces, comprising a forward main wing generally centrally located relative to the fuselage or body, a rearwardly located stabilizing surface acting as an empennage support, and a rear stabilizer and elevator located at the rearward end of the empennage tail booms. The wheel or landing gear configuration is of a rhomboid pattern, with forward and rearward main wheels along the centerline of the craft, and left and right outboard w...