Textron Innovations Inc.

William Ben Johns

Levi Charles Hefner

John Robert Wittmaak, Jr

Russell C Peters

Joseph Dean Rainville

Aaron M Hitchcock

Andrew Vincent Louis

A tank has a body defining a chamber therein, the chamber is configured to store a gas at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, a first mounting element extending from the body, and a second mounting element extending from the body. The first mounting element and the second mounting element are configured for coupling to a first component of a vehicle and a second component of the vehicle, respectively, and the body is configured to carry a structural load between the first component and the second component when the first mounting element and the second mounting element are coupled thereto. The first component carries a propulsion device and the second component comprises at least one of a wing and a landing element. The tank further includes a stem having an orifice and the stem is configured for delivering the gas to the propulsion device through the orifice.

Structural gaseous material storage tank

An aircraft includes an airframe with a thrust array attached thereto. The thrust array includes a plurality of propulsion assemblies that are independently controlled by a flight control system. A landing gear assembly is coupled to the airframe and includes a plurality of landing feet. An altitude sensor array includes a plurality of altitude sensors each of which is disposed within one of the landing feet such that when the aircraft is in the VTOL orientation, the altitude sensor array is configured to obtain multifocal altitude data relative to a landing surface. The flight control system is configured to generate a three-dimensional terrain map of the surface based upon the multifocal altitude data.

VTOL aircraft having multifocal landing sensors

Growing community of inventors

Little Elm, TX, United States of America

William Ben Johns