Vertical take-off and landing aircraft

1. A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft comprising:

a fuselage defining a forward end and an aft end, the fuselage accommodating at least one engine;

a left wing and a right wing extending from either side of the fuselage, each wing comprising a rotor housing portion extending away from the fuselage and a wing tip portion extending away from the rotor housing portion, the wing tip portion being angled towards a rear and side of the aircraft, wherein each of the rotor housing portions comprises two rotor housings, one forward of the aircraft's centre of gravity and one aft of the aircraft's centre of gravity;

a lift fan drive system accommodated within each wing;

a forward thrust fan drive system fitted proximate the aft end of the fuselage;

a stabiliser arrangement proximate the forward thrust fan drive system, and

a stability system having a plurality of inputs, including that of a pilot, and a plurality of actuating outputs,

wherein the at least one engine is arranged to power both the lift fan drive system and the forward thrust fan drive system, the at least one engine defining a combined power plant within the fuselage, wherein each the rotor housing portions accommodates a lift fan with variable pitch blades, the lift fan forming part of the lift fan drive system,

wherein a lower opening of each of the rotor housings is fitted with a series of louvers, the louvers being orientated and angled during flight to redirect thrust generated by the lift fans, the louvers being controlled by the stability system, based on the pilot's inputs and stability sensor inputs into the stability system, with angulations of the thrust of the lift fans being independently variable based on an orientation of the thrust directing louvers, which, in combination with a variable thrust due to the variable pitch fan blades allows for full control of the aircraft in the vertical take-off, hover, transition and vertical landing phases of flight.

2. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein one of the actuating outputs is to control an angular pitch of the blades of the lift fans, with the change in pitch of the fan blades varying a vertical thrust provided by each fan.

3. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein an upper opening of each rotor housing is fitted with a sealing arrangement to seal off the upper opening, which is under a control of the pilot and flight management system.

4. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the forward thrust fan drive system comprises two forward thrust ducted fans, the fans being accommodated within a cowling that is fitted on either side of a fuselage tail, behind the wings.

5. The aircraft of claim 4 , wherein the stabiliser arrangement comprises a horizontal stabiliser extending rearwardly and sidewardly from a rear of each cowling that accommodates one of the forward thrust ducted fans, and an angled stabiliser that extends vertically and sidewardly from the rear of each cowling.

6. The aircraft of claim 4 , wherein the stabiliser arrangement includes canards.

7. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the fuselage comprises multiple turbine engines, with power being transferred from each of the engines to each of the lift fans of the lift fan drive system through a single planetary gearbox, which is positioned in front of the engines and wherein drive shafts extend between the single planetary gearbox and each lift fan drive system, the multiple turbine engines also being used to power the forward thrust fan drive system through a secondary gearbox, wherein a drive shaft extends between the single planetary gearbox and the secondary gearbox.

8. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the length of the fuselage and a wingspan of the aircraft are substantially similar.