Patent attributes
Features for in-flight recovery of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A towline may be deployed by a host aircraft in-flight to recover an in-flight target UAV. The towline or portion thereof may be oriented nearly vertical. The towline may have a fitting thereon. A capture mechanism on the target UAV may have one or more deployable flaps that engage with the near vertical towline and fitting. The flaps may stow to secure the target aircraft to the towline and fitting. The host aircraft may then retract the towline to pull in the target UAV to the host aircraft using a hoist system having a winch. A latching system located in a pylon of the host aircraft, which may be under a wing, may have a towline connector that engages with and secures the target UAV. The host aircraft may have multiple hoist systems for deployment and/or recovery of multiple target UAV's.
