Jet aircraft

Claim 1

An aircraft comprising: a fuselage, wing and tail assembly contoured to provide a smooth variation in cross-sectional area from the nose of the fuselage to the tail in accordance with the area rule, so that the fuselage approaches the shape of lowest drag at the cruising speed of the aircraft, the wing having a swept-back configuration with its forward edge extending outwardly and rearwardly from the nose of the fuselage on each side of the fuselage and exhibiting high lift at low speeds of the aircraft and low drag at the cruising speed of the aircraft; at least one jet engine positioned in the nose of the fuselage without bulging the contour of the aircraft so as to provide compliance with the area rule, the inlet of the engine being positioned in the nose of the fuselage and the exhaust of the engine exiting underneath the fuselage so that the thrust of the engine may be deflected for take-off and landing; a thrust deflector pivotally mounted to the underside of said fuselage and turnable between a retracted position completely within the confines of the fuselage displaced from the exhaust of said engine during normal cruising speeds of the aircraft, and an inclined position within the exhaust of the engine so as to deflect the exhaust through controllable angles to approximately 75° to permit the aircraft to take off and land vertically with nose-high attitude, said enging having a rectangular exit for the exhaust flow and said thrust deflector having a nozzle exit area greater than the normal exit area of the engine, and an airfoil array pivotally mounted to said thrust deflector to be movable with the thrust deflector to a retractable stowed position completely within the fuselage and to an operating position in the exhaust of the engine, said array being controllable to vary the direction of the engine exhaust leaving the thrust deflector about two mutually perpendicular axes so as to control the attitude of the aircraft.