US 12,459,640 B2
Aircraft with a multi-fan propulsion system for controlling flight orientation transitions
Alexis Raquel Nunes, West Chester, OH (US); and Kurt David Murrow, Dayton, OH (US)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Evendale, OH (US)
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
Filed on Apr. 29, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/244,280.
Prior Publication US 2022/0350348 A1, Nov. 3, 2022
Int. Cl. B64C 29/02 (2006.01); B64U 10/20 (2023.01); B64U 30/10 (2023.01); B64U 50/12 (2023.01); B64U 50/14 (2023.01); B64U 101/30 (2023.01); G05D 1/00 (2024.01)
CPC B64C 29/02 (2013.01) [B64U 10/20 (2023.01); B64U 30/10 (2023.01); B64U 50/12 (2023.01); B64U 50/14 (2023.01); G05D 1/102 (2013.01); B64U 2101/30 (2023.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An aircraft, comprising:
a fuselage;
a pair of wings extending outward from the fuselage opposite one another;
a propulsion system having a first propulsor and a second propulsor each mounted to the fuselage, the first propulsor having a fan positioned primarily above and the second propulsor having a fan positioned primarily below the pair of wings as determined when the aircraft is in a horizontal orientation, wherein the first propulsor and the second propulsor are positioned at a same position along a longitudinal axis of the fuselage such that the first propulsor and the second propulsor each intersect a vertical axis at the same position along the longitudinal axis;
a computing system having one or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to:
cause, in response to a demand to change an orientation of the aircraft for a flight orientation transition in which the aircraft is transitioned from a vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation or a horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation, the fan of the first propulsor and the fan of the second propulsor to produce different amounts of thrust with respect to one another so that the aircraft performs the flight orientation transition.