A Safe and Fuel-Efficient VTOL “Personal Aircraft

A small VTOL “Personal Aircraft” or “PAC”, as we define it, seats up to three persons, flies at altitudes of 1K to 2.5K feet above the terrain at speeds up to 100 MPH with a range of 250 miles. The PAC has a footprint of approximately 15’ x 25’, thus requiring an extremely small landing and/or storage area. Key features of the PAC include: (1) high fuel efficiency during both hovering and forward flight, (2) increased safety over conventional VTOL aircraft due to thruster shrouds and thruster redundancy, and (3) mechanical simplicity and consequently low manufacturing and maintenance cost. The thrusters are ducted fan units (DFUs) which are efficient lift generators and provide directional thrust. The PAC has a fixed wing for efficient forward flight in the 50 to 100 RPM regime.