Abstract: A fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a propeller gimbal operably coupled to the body of the UAV at the forward end and the propeller gimbal is configured to pivot the propeller about a gimbal pivot axis to change a propeller angle. A controller of the UAV may be configured to control an attitude of flight of the UAV by controlling operation of the motor, the propeller gimbal, and the control surface assembly. The controller may be further configured to determine in-flight trajectory modifications that may require high maneuverability via high angle-of-attack attitudes of flight that are implemented via the propeller gimbal and trajectories determined from a dynamics model of the fixed-wing UAV.