A vehicle, including a vehicle frame, a duct carried by the vehicle frame
with the longitudinal axis of the duct perpendicular to the longitudinal
axis of the vehicle frame, a propeller rotatably mounted within the duct
about the longitudinal axis of the duct to force an ambient fluid
therethrough from its inlet at the upper end of the duct through its exit
at the lower end of the duct, and thereby to produce an upward lift force
applied to the vehicle, and a plurality of parallel, spaced vanes
pivotally mounted to and across the inlet end of the duct about pivotal
axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the duct and substantially
parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, the vanes being
selectively pivotal about their axes to produce a desired horizontal
force component to the lift force applied to the vehicle.