The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 28, 2026
Filed:
Apr. 30, 2024
United States of America As Represented BY the Administrator of Nasa, Washington, DC (US);
Steven C. Geuther, Lutz, FL (US);
David D. North, Williamsburg, VA (US);
Brian E. Duvall, Charlottesville, VA (US);
Jacob R. Schaefer, Yorktown, VA (US);
United States of America as represented by the Administrator of NASA, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
An aircraft includes an onboard power supply, an empennage assembly, and a horizontal main wing each connected to a fuselage, and a vertical cross-wing arranged orthogonally with respect to the main wing. Flight control surfaces are arranged on the empennage assembly, vertical cross-wing, and horizontal main wing. A distributed propulsion system includes a first pair of propellers connected to the horizontal main wing and a second pair of propellers connected to the vertical cross-wing. Each of the propellers is connected to and powered by the power supply. Each propeller forms an acute canting angle with respect to an axis of the particular horizontal main wing or the vertical cross-wing to which the propeller is connected. The flight modes may include vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), hover mode, rapid descent, and forward and backward flight modes. The propellers are unpowered during the rapid descent mode.