Business
Chinese airframe manufacturer AVIC is investing yuan (CNY) 20 million ($3.2 million) in the U8 unmanned helicopter programme, which is being designed for civilian use. The investment is being made through Jingdezhen Helicopter, said AVIC in a Hong Kong stock exchange statement. AVIC owns almost 54.7% of the
Testing
Israel Aerospace Industries' Heron was recently demonstrated successfully and according to the plan, this time in Greece, as part of a demonstration held by the European Union agency, Frontex. During the demonstration a number of IAI payloads were employed successfully to detect potential targets, for monitoring anti-smuggling and other
Commercial
Unmanned aircraft are currently being tried out in vineyards in the south of France, to check that "grubbing up" of vines is done legally and ecologically. Wine-growers get as much as 10,000 euros ($13,000; £8,300) per hectare in subsidies for digging up uncompetitive vines -
Commercial
Aerial video captivated an audience of farmers last week in Grand Island, watching a cheap camera attached to a small aircraft gets a bird's eye view. "You can see a lot from the air you can't see from the ground," Dr. Richard Ferguson said.
VTOL
Pulse Aerospace released is latest product, the PA-01 Vapor helicopter unmanned aircraft system at the PIPELINE Innovator of the Year Event in Overland Park, Kansas on January 26, 2012. Bill Donovan, President of Pulse Aerospace, was selected into the 2011 group of high-growth oriented innovators to take part in the
Events
AR.Drone posted this video of the Grand Finale of its first Annual Competition to find the best pilot in the world. After being selected through an online competition, the 15 finalists representing 9 nationalities finally arrived to Las Vegas on January 9th. The finalists received an AR.Drone bag
Commercial
What appeared to be human forms recently seen flying over New York City made passes along the Brooklyn Bridge, flew past the Statue of Liberty, and some even performed loops -- they were also part of a viral marketing campaign. To promote a movie, three remote-controlled aircraft designed to look
Commercial
MI6 Films is one of the operators targeted by the FAA in its crackdown on the use of remote-control aircraft to shoot aerial video and photos for the real estate trade. The company used a substantial aircraft to carry full-sized motion picture camera gear and rented the aircraft and camera
Commercial
A Clarkson University research team, led by Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering Professors Pier Marzocca, Suresh Dhaniyala and Lin Tian, is readying its unmanned aircraft, the Clarkson RAVEN (Research Aerial Vehicle for Experimental Needs), to acquire wind turbulence data. The three Clarkson faculty, along with colleagues from six institutions and companies
Commercial
16 North Dakota counties will soon use two small unmanned aircraft to monitor crime scenes and track suspects. Coordinating the project — part research, part law enforcement — is Al Frazier, a Grand Forks deputy sheriff and an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota. Sheriff's deputies and police
Commercial
UNOSAT took delivery today of its second UAS in a little over one month, this time a so-called quadrocopter. This latest model will be used to diversify UNOSAT’s mini-UAV fleet and to complement the Programme’s local mapping capacity. The quadrocopter is particularly suitable for close-up assessments and inspections
Testing
The US Customs and Border Protection agency just posted this video showing its new Unmanned Aircraft Systems specifically designed to patrol over open water. It details the setting up of its Predator B aircraft, the logistical and contractual hurdles that had to be jumped and their cooperation and integration with