A micro aerial vehicle can be converted during flight between a fixed wing flight mode and a rotary wing flight mode. The canard design micro aerial vehicle includes a fuselage, two tiltable propellers and airfoils arranged at a forward portion of fuselage, a pair of coaxial drive shafts positioned aft of the tiltable propeller and airfoil arranged for contra-rotation, a stop rotor mechanism, and a pair of wing panels, each of the wing panels attached to one of the coaxial drive shafts. The wing panels act as contra-rotating rotor blades in the rotary wing flight mode, and act as fixed wing panels in the fixed wing mode.