A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can meet both VTOL and horizontal flight performance, but how to achieve a safe and stable transition is a research focus of this type of aircraft. According to the overall configuration characteristics of VTOL UAV, aerodynamic models of lift fan, lift duct and induced wing surface of VTOL UAV were established. Three flight modes of induced VTOL UAV are studied, including hover, transition and horizontal flight. The method of longitudinal flight balance of UAV in transition mode is also studied. Finally, a UAV is taken as an example to conduct the research of transition flight mode balancing and flight simulation with the method presented in this paper. The results show that the proposed method can reasonably give the control quantity and longitudinal attitude of UAV in the whole transition mode, so that the UAV can achieve a steady transition flight.

An accurate description of the transition corridor is of great significance for the flight process of the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). To study the transition flight process of vertical take-off and landing fixed-wing UAVs, the dynamic model and transition corridor model of this type of UAV are established in the current article. The method for establishing the model is based on a reasonable match of the power and aerodynamic force of this type of UAV. From the perspective of flight dynamics, the ducted lift-increasing system’s deflection angle–speed envelope is studied with the maximum lift coefficient of the wing and the system’s available power. The influence of the overall parameters and energy parameters of the UAV on the deflection angle–speed envelope of the ducted lift-increasing system is analyzed, and a method is proposed to expand the vertical take-off and landing fixed-wing UAV’s transition corridor. Taking the UAV as the object, using the established model, the transition flight corridor of the UAV is obtained, the influence of the control parameters on the transition flight is studied, and the appropriate transition flight control strategy is determined. At the same time, the influence of the overall parameters and energy parameters on the transition corridor is calculated. According to the calculation results, the effect of expanding the flight corridor of the UAV is more obvious when increasing the available power than when increasing the aerodynamic parameters by the same proportion.