Abstract: An aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using a set of wing mounted thrust producing elements and a set of tail mounted rotors for takeoff and landing. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to vertical takeoff with the rotors in a rotated, take-off attitude then transitions to a horizontal flight path, with the rotors rotated to a typical horizontal configuration. The aerial vehicle uses different configurations of its wing mounted rotors and propellers to reduce drag in all flight modes.

Abstract: An aircraft propulsion system with a drag reduction portion adapted to reduce skin friction on at least a portion of the external surface of an aircraft. The drag reduction portion may include an inlet to ingest airflow. The aircraft may also have an internally cooled electric motor adapted for use in an aerial vehicle. The motor may have its stator towards the center and have an external rotor. The rotor structure may be air cooled and may be a complex structure with an internal lattice adapted for airflow. The stator structure may be liquid cooled and may be a complex structure with an internal lattice adapted for liquid to flow through. A fluid pump may pump a liquid coolant through non-rotating portions of the motor stator and then through heat exchangers cooled in part by air which has flowed through the rotating portions of the motor rotor. The drag reduction portion and the cooled electric motor portion may share the same inlet.

Abstract: A request for transport services that identifies a rider, an origin, and a destination is received from a client device. Eligibility of the request to be serviced by a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is determined based on the origin and the destination. The client device is sent an itinerary for servicing the transport request including a leg serviced by the VTOL aircraft. Confirmation is received that the rider has boarded the VTOL aircraft and determination made as to whether the VTOL aircraft should wait for additional riders. Instruction are sent to the VTOL aircraft to take-off if one or more conditions are met.

Abstract: The 3D extension linkage 100 can include at least one arm that includes two elements connected by a joint. The linkage can include an actuation mechanism, additional arms and/or each arm can include more than two elements, tie rods and/or cross pieces connecting two or more arms, and any other suitable components. The linkage 100 functions to translate and rotate a body attached to one end of the arm relative to a primary structure attached to a second end of the arm.

Abstract: The disclosure generally relates to aircraft vehicles, specifically vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that include propellers. A propeller is coupled to a boom and the boom includes a boom control effector. The boom control effector is configured to direct the airflow behind or below the propeller. The boom control effector can be configured to control the yaw movement of the aircraft and mitigate noise from the propeller. A boom control effector can be a single effector or a split effector. The split effector may operate in conjunction with a boom that operates as a resonator to reduce noise produced by the propeller.

Abstract: An aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using a set of wing mounted thrust producing elements and a set of tail mounted rotors for takeoff and landing. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to vertical takeoff with the rotors in a rotated, take-off attitude then transitions to a horizontal flight path, with the rotors rotated to a typical horizontal configuration. The aerial vehicle uses different configurations of its wing mounted rotors and propellers to reduce drag in all flight modes.

Abstract: A vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, configured to transport passengers and/or cargo, uses propellers during vertical flight and wings during forward flight to generate lift. The VTOL aircraft includes a front wing and a rear wing connected by inboard booms. The rear wing may include a wingtip boom attached to each free end of the wing. A propeller may be attached to each inboard boom and each wingtip boom. The propellers attached to the inboard booms may be stacked propellers including at least two co-rotating propellers. The aircraft can also include a cruise propeller attached to the tail region of the fuselage, where the cruise propeller is configured to rotate in a plane approximately perpendicular to the fuselage to generate thrust during forward flight.

Abstract: An aircraft can include a stacked propeller to generate lift during assent and descent. The stacked propeller includes a first propeller and a second propeller that co-rotate about an axis of rotation. In one embodiment, the blades are coupled to a rotor mast that contains an internal cavity. In one mode of operation, the first propeller and/or the second propeller can be stored in the internal cavity in order to reduce drag during flight. The aircraft can include one or more stacked propellers, such as a port propeller and a starboard propeller, which rotate in opposite directions during one or more modes of flight.

Abstract: A request for transport services that identifies a rider, an origin, and a destination is received from a client device. Eligibility of the request to be serviced by a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is determined based on the origin and the destination. A transportation system determines a first and a second hub for a leg of the transport request serviced by the VTOL aircraft and calculates a set of candidate routes from the first hub to the second hub. A provisioned route is selected from among the set of candidate routes based on network and environmental parameters and objectives including pre-determined acceptable noise levels, weather, and the presence and planned routes of other VTOL aircrafts along each of the candidate routes.

Abstract: Example embodiments are directed to generating an optimized network of flight paths and an operations volume around each of these flight paths. A network system creates a source network of paths, whereby the source network comprises a set of possible paths between two locations. The network system assigns a cost for traversing each edge of each path of the source network and aggregates the cost for traversing each edge of each path to obtain a cost for each path of the source network. Based on the cost for each path, the network system identifies a path having the lowest cost, whereby the path having the lowest cost is the optimized route between the two locations. The network system then generates an operations volume for the optimized route. The operations volume represents airspace surrounding the optimized route. The operations volume is transmitted to a further system for use.

Abstract: The system can include an on-board thermal management subsystem. The system 100 can optionally include an off-board (extravehicular) infrastructure subsystem. The on-board thermal management subsystem can include: a battery pack, one or more fluid loops, and an air manifold. The system 100 can additionally or alternatively include any other suitable components.

Abstract: A vertical landing and take-off aircraft VTOL transitions from a vertical takeoff state to a cruise state where the vertical takeoff state uses propellers to generate lift and the cruise state uses wings to generate lift. The aircraft has an M-wing configuration with propellers located on the wingtip nacelles, wing booms, and tail boom. The wing boom and/or the tail boom can include boom control effectors. Hinged control surfaces on the wings, tail boom, and tail tilt during takeoff and landing to yaw the vehicle. The boom control effectors, cruise propellers, stacked propellers, and control surfaces can have different positions during different modes of operation in order to control aircraft movement and mitigate noise generated by the aircraft.

Abstract: An aircraft propulsion system with a drag reduction portion adapted to reduce skin friction on at least a portion of the external surface of an aircraft. The drag reduction portion may include an inlet to ingest airflow. The aircraft may also have an internally cooled electric motor adapted for use in an aerial vehicle. The motor may have its stator towards the center and have an external rotor. The rotor structure may be air cooled and may be a complex structure with an internal lattice adapted for airflow. The stator structure may be liquid cooled and may be a complex structure with an internal lattice adapted for liquid to flow through. A fluid pump may pump a liquid coolant through non-rotating portions of the motor stator and then through heat exchangers cooled in part by air which has flowed through the rotating portions of the motor rotor. The drag reduction portion and the cooled electric motor portion may share the same inlet.

Abstract: A vertical take-off and landing aircraft which uses fixed rotors for both VTOL and forward flight operations. The rotors form a synthetic wing and are positioned to achieve a high span efficiency. The rotors are positioned to even out the lift across the span of the synthetic wing. The synthetic wing may also have narrow front and rear airfoils which may provide structural support as well as providing lift during forward flight. The wing rotors are tilted forward and provide some forward propulsion during horizontal flight.

Abstract: An aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using a set of wing mounted thrust producing elements and a set of tail mounted rotors for takeoff and landing. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to vertical takeoff with the rotors in a rotated, take-off attitude then transitions to a horizontal flight path, with the rotors rotated to a typical horizontal configuration. The aerial vehicle uses different configurations of its wing mounted rotors and propellers to reduce drag in all flight modes.

Abstract: The aircraft can include: an airframe, a tilt mechanism, a payload housing, and can optionally include an impact attenuator, a set of ground support members (e.g., struts), a set of power sources, and a set of control elements. The airframe can include: a set of rotors and a set of support members.

Abstract: The unified command system and/or method includes an input mechanism, a flight processor that receives input from the input mechanism and translates the input into control output, and effectors that are actuated according to the control output. The system can optionally include: one or more sensors, a vehicle navigation system which determines a vehicle state and/or flight regime based on data from the one or more sensors, and a vehicle guidance system which determines a flightpath for the aircraft.

Abstract: An aircraft including an airframe and a plurality of propulsion assemblies coupled to the airframe, wherein each propulsion assembly includes an electric motor, a propeller coupled to the electric motor, and a tilt mechanism that connects the propulsion assembly to the airframe and transforms the propulsion assembly between a forward configuration and a hover configuration; wherein the plurality of propulsion assemblies is transformable between a forward arrangement and a hover arrangement, wherein each of the plurality of propulsion assemblies is in the forward configuration in the forward arrangement, wherein each of the plurality of propulsion assemblies is in the hover configuration in the hover arrangement, wherein the spacing between at least two of the propellers of the plurality of propulsion assemblies changes between the forward arrangement and the hover arrangement.

Abstract: The battery thermal management system includes a battery pack, a circulation subsystem, and a heat exchanger. The system can optionally include a cooling system, a reservoir, a de-ionization filter, a battery charger, and a controller.

Abstract: A method for determining airspeed of an aircraft that includes determining a rotor model relating a power coefficient of a propeller of the aircraft to an axial inflow velocity through the propeller as a function of a set of rotor operating parameters; determining the set of rotor operating parameters by sampling an electronic control signal associated with an electric motor actuating the propeller; computing the axial inflow velocity through the propeller based on the set of rotor operating parameters using the rotor model; and determining the airspeed based on the axial inflow velocity.