US 11,718,396 B2
Active sail blade
Christopher Edward Foskey, Keller, TX (US); and Jeffrey Mark Bosworth, Flower Mound, TX (US)
Assigned to Textron Innovations Inc., Providence, RI (US)
Filed by Bell Helicopter Textron Inc., Fort Worth, TX (US)
Filed on Jun. 12, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/439,487.
Prior Publication US 2020/0391860 A1, Dec. 17, 2020
Int. Cl. B64C 29/00 (2006.01); B64C 11/18 (2006.01); B64C 3/38 (2006.01); B64C 11/28 (2006.01); B64C 27/51 (2006.01)
CPC B64C 29/0033 (2013.01) [B64C 3/38 (2013.01); B64C 11/18 (2013.01); B64C 11/28 (2013.01); B64C 27/51 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An aircraft, comprising:
a fuselage;
a wing attached to the fuselage;
a proprotor assembly having a plurality of rotor blades and mounted on a first end of the wing;
a controller configured to, when the proprotor assembly is not rotating and the aircraft is in flight:
maintain, using a blade actuator, a first of the plurality of rotor blades in an extended position perpendicular to a direction of the flight;
adjust, using the blade actuator, a pitch of the first rotor blade to provide a flight control surface for controlling the direction of the flight of the aircraft, wherein the pitch is adjusted to the exclusion of the other rotor blades;
rotate, using one or more other actuators, the other rotor blades to a folded position parallel to the direction of the flight; and
decouple the other rotor blades from the other actuators so that the other rotor blades do not move while in the folded position.