1. An aircraft comprising:
(a) a pair of spaced apart and parallelly disposed fuselages to form a gap, wherein said pair of fuselages comprises a longitudinal axis;
(b) a pair of wings, each wing is attached to an outboard side of each said fuselage;
(c) a pyramid structure adapted to connect said pair of fuselages; and
(d) an articulated propulsion system having a thrust axis, wherein said articulated propulsion system is pivotably attached to said pyramid structure and configured for angle of rotation of from about 0 degrees corresponding to said thrust axis disposed substantially parallel but at an offset to said longitudinal axis to about 90 degrees corresponding to said thrust axis disposed substantially at right angle to said longitudinal axis,
wherein said thrust axis substantially intersects a center of gravity of said aircraft when said thrust axis is disposed substantially at right angle to said longitudinal axis and said propulsion system is capable of an angle of rotation ranging from about 0 degrees to about 90 degrees during take-off or landing.
2. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein said articulated propulsion system is a counter-rotating co-axial propeller system.
3. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein said articulated propulsion system is a counter-rotating co-axial propeller system connected to two engines.
4. The aircraft of claim 2, wherein said counter-rotating co-axial propeller system comprises a means for cyclical control.
5. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein the ratio of said offset to said gap ranges from about \u2153 to about \u215a.
6. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein each fuselage comprises at least one passenger access door on the outboard side of the fuselage.
7. The aircraft of claim 1, wherein said pyramid structure comprises more than one spar connecting said pair of fuselages.
8. The aircraft of claim 1, further comprising at least one airbag configured to be mountable on an exterior surface of one of said pair of fuselages, wherein said at least one airbag is configured to provide cushioning of said aircraft with an exterior object.
9. An aircraft comprising:
(a) a pair of spaced apart and parallelly disposed fuselages to form a gap, wherein said pair of fuselages comprises a longitudinal axis;
(b) a pair of wings, each wing is attached to an outboard side of each said fuselage;
(c) a pyramid structure adapted to connect said pair of fuselages; and
(d) a counter-rotating co-axial propeller system having a thrust axis, wherein said propeller system is pivotably attached to said pyramid structure and configured for angle of rotation of from about 0 degrees corresponding to said thrust axis disposed substantially parallel but at an offset to said longitudinal axis to about 90 degrees corresponding to said thrust axis disposed substantially at right angle to said longitudinal axis,
wherein said thrust axis substantially intersects a center of gravity of said aircraft when said thrust axis is disposed substantially at right angle to said longitudinal axis and said propulsion system is capable of an angle of rotation ranging from about 0 degrees to about 90 degrees during take-off or landing.
10. The aircraft of claim 9, wherein said counter-rotating co-axial propeller system is connected to two engines.
11. The aircraft of claim 10, wherein said counter-rotating co-axial propeller system comprises a means for cyclical control.
12. The aircraft of claim 9, wherein the ratio of said offset to said gap ranges from about \u2153 to about \u215a.
13. The aircraft of claim 9, wherein each fuselage comprises at least one passenger access door on the outboard side of the fuselage.
14. The aircraft of claim 9, wherein said pyramid structure comprises more than one spar connecting said pair of fuselages.
15. The aircraft of claim 9, further comprising at least one airbag configured to be mountable on an exterior surface of one of said pair of fuselages, wherein said at least one airbag is configured to provide cushioning of said aircraft with an exterior object.
16. An aircraft comprising:
(a) a pair of spaced apart and parallelly disposed fuselages to form a gap, wherein said pair of fuselages comprises a longitudinal axis;
(b) a pair of wings, each wing is attached to an outer portion to said each of said pair of fuselages;
(c) a pyramid structure adapted to connect said pair of fuselages; and
(d) a counter-rotating co-axial propeller system having a thrust axis and comprising a means for cyclical control, wherein said thruster is pivotably attached to said structure and configured for angle of rotation of from about 0 degrees corresponding to said thrust axis disposed substantially parallel but at an offset to said longitudinal axis to about 90 degrees corresponding to said thrust axis disposed substantially at right angle to said longitudinal axis,
wherein said thrust axis substantially intersects a center of gravity of said aircraft when said thrust axis is disposed substantially at right angle to said longitudinal axis and said propulsion system is capable of an angle of rotation ranging from about 0 degrees to about 90 degrees during take-off or landing and said means for cyclical control enables fine position control of the aircraft during vertical flight.
17. The aircraft of claim 16, wherein said counter-rotating co-axial propeller system is connected to two engines.
18. The aircraft of claim 16, wherein the ratio of said offset to said gap ranges from about \u2153 to about \u215a.
19. The aircraft of claim 16, wherein each fuselage comprises at least one passenger access door on the outboard side of the fuselage.
20. The aircraft of claim 16, wherein said pyramid structure comprises more than one spar connecting said pair of fuselages.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
I claim:
1. A method of detecting a fault within a micro electro-mechanical device of a type having a support structure, an actuating arm that is movable relative to the support structure under the influence of heat inducing current flow through at least part of the actuating arm, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) passing a first current pulse having a predetermined duration tp through the actuating arm, and
(b) determining movement of the actuating arm in response thereto.
2. The method of claim 1 including determining one of the amount of movement, the rate of movement, and a predetermined amount of movement of the arm.
3. The method of claim 1 including determining if the arm has moved a predetermined amount.
4. The method of claim 1 including determining if the state of an electrical circuit has been changed due to movement of the arm.
5. The method of claim 4 including determining the closure of an electrical circuit.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1 when employed in relation to a liquid ejection nozzle having a liquid receiving chamber from which the liquid is ejected with movement of the actuating arm.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1 when employed in relation to an ink ejection nozzle having an ink receiving chamber from which the ink is ejected with movement of the actuating arm.
8. The method of claim 1 including providing a movement sensor comprising a moving contact element formed integrally with the actuating arm, a fixed contact element formed integrally with the support structure and electric circuit elements formed within the support structure, and wherein a predetermined level of movement of the actuating arm is detected by contact made between the fixed and moving contact elements.
9. A method of detecting and remedying a fault within a micro electro-mechanical device of a type having a support structure, an actuating arm that is movable relative to the support structure under the influence of heat inducing current flow through the actuating arm, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) passing a first current pulse having a predetermined duration tp through the actuating arm;
(b) determining movement of the actuating arm in response thereto, and
(c) remedying the fault by passing at least one further current pulse through the actuating arm at an energy level greater than that of the first current pulse.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein step (b) includes determining one of the amount of movement, the rate of movement, and a predetermined amount of movement of the arm.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein step (b) includes determining if the arm has moved a predetermined amount.
12. The method of claim 9 wherein step (b) includes determining if the state of an electrical circuit has been changed due to movement of the arm.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein step (b) includes determining the closure of an electrical circuit.
14. The method as claimed in claim 9 when employed in relation to a liquid ejection nozzle having a liquid receiving chamber from which the liquid is ejected with movement of the actuating arm.
15. The method as claimed in claim 9 when employed in relation to an ink ejection nozzle having an ink receiving chamber from which the ink is ejected with movement of the actuating arm.
16. The method of claim 9 including providing a movement sensor comprising a moving contact element formed integrally with the actuating arm, a fixed contact element formed integrally with the support structure and electric circuit elements formed within the support structure, and wherein a predetermined level of movement of the actuating arm is detected by contact made between the fixed and moving contact elements at step (b).