Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

Claim 1

An aircraft comprising: a closed-skin discus-shaped fuselage of circular outline having conical upper and lower halves centered on an axis and defining all of the airfoil surface of the aircraft within said outline, the center of gravity of the aircraft being located along said axis in said lower half; a plurality of lift-generating assemblies spaced around said fuselage, each of said assemblies including a respective rotor rotatable along the top of said fuselage, means for rotationally driving said rotor, a respective compressor in said fuselage below said rotor drawing in and compressing air froM below said rotor, and a respective nozzle connected to said compressor to expel from below said fuselage the air compressed thereby, said nozzles projecting downwardly below said fuselage and exclusively forming rudder controls for said aircraft; and control means for selectively directionally orienting each of said nozzles, each of said control means including a rotatable disk mounted on and substantially flush with the lower surface of said fuselage, said nozzle being formed at the lower end of a fixed-elbow tube rising through the disk to the compressor, and drive means connected to said disk for rotating same and thereby rotating said nozzle.