Modular and morphable air vehicle
A personal air vehicle may feature an air module that may be attached to a ground module. The air module may be equipped with exit vanes or vectored engine exhaust to provide redundant control effectors to the cyclic or collective pitch of at least one rotary wing under the control of a control system.
1. A personal air vehicle apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
a. an air module;
b. a pair of rotary wings attached to said air module, each of said rotary wings being enclosed by a circular duct, said pair of rotary wings and said circular ducts being selectably tiltable about an axis of rotor tilt between a side-by-side rotor configuration and a tilted-rotor configuration;
c. a ground module, said ground module and said air module being configured to be selectably attached one to the other, said at least one rotary wing being configured to support said ground module and said air module in a flight when said ground module and said air module are attached, said rotary wing being configured to support said air module in said flight when said ground module and said air module are not attached;
d. an engine operably connected to said at least one rotary wing, said at least one rotary wing has non-differential monocyclic pitch control, said engine having an exhaust, said engine exhaust being a vectored engine exhaust, said monocyclic pitch and said vectored engine exhaust provide a redundant control authority for aircraft pitch control when said pair of rotary wings and said circular ducts are in said tilted-rotor configuration; and
e. a control system, said redundant control authority is under the control of said control system.
2. The personal air vehicle of claim 1 wherein said pair of rotary wings having exit vanes, each said exit vane being configured to swivel about a vane axis, each said vane axis being parallel to said axis of rotor tilt.
3. The personal air vehicle of claim 2 wherein said exit vanes being configured to selectably provide a redundant control authority to said non-differential monocyclic pitch control of said pair of rotary wings.
4. The personal air vehicle of claim 3 wherein said redundant control authority is under a control of a control system.
5. The personal air vehicle of claim 2 wherein said non-differential monocyclic pitch and said vanes providing said redundant control authority for aircraft pitch control when said rotary wings and said circular ducts are in said side-by-side configuration.
6. The personal air vehicle of claim 2 wherein said monocyclic pitch and said vanes provide said redundant control authority for aircraft pitch control when said rotary wings and said circular ducts are in said tilted-rotor configuration.
7. The personal air vehicle of claim 2 wherein said pair of rotary wings have differential monocyclic pitch control, said differential monocyclic pitch and said vanes provide redundant control authority for aircraft yaw control when said rotary wings and said circular ducts are in said side-by-side position.
8. The personal air vehicle of claim 1 , said ground module being a one of a ground vehicle, a medical module, a cargo module, a weapons module, a passenger module and a communications module.