A personal aircraft (PAC) capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) comprises
a fixed wing and a fuselage with a passenger compartment having a front, a rear
and two sides, and a plurality of independently powered thrusters, preferably integrated
into the wing, on each side of the fuselage. The aircraft has a lift to drag ratio
equal to or greater than 2. The thrusters, which are ducted fan units capable of
providing a vertically upward force to the aircraft, are provided with such redundancy
that the aircraft can hover with at one thruster inoperative on each side of the
fuselage. At least one thruster on each side of the fuselage preferably comprises
a "levitator" which creates lift from the airfoil-like air inlet as well as from
the acceleration of air from inlet to outlet.
