VTOL
The US Marine Corps made history on December 17, 2011, by flying a cargo UAS in a war zone. Controllers on the ground flew a K-MAX unmanned helicopter from Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan, to Camp Payne in Helmand province, ferrying 3,500 pounds of supplies to fellow Marines. Since that inaugural
Commercial
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has completed tests determining that unmanned aircraft systems can be used effectively to assess storm damage on utility distribution systems. Conducted at the New Mexico State University Flight Test Center, the tests involved navigating several aircraft technologies and using high resolution video cameras to
Testing
The video below shows the production prototype of the Transition Street-Legal Airplane completing its successful first flight at Plattsburgh International Airport in Plattsburgh, NY on March 23, 2012. The same vehicle has also successfully conducted initial drive and conversion testing, demonstrating the Transition’s capability to provide unmatched freedom, flexibility
Propulsion
Insitu Inc. announced that its ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS) successfully completed its first hydrogen-powered fuel cell flight during a two-and-a-half-hour flight test. The hydrogen-powered fuel cell solution was implemented as a modular upgrade to the runway-independent, expeditionary Group 2 ScanEagle UAS. The collaboration between Insitu, Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)
Testing
In preparation for their attempt at round-the-world flight in 2014, the Solar Impulse team has announced the destination of its 2012 mission: the Kingdom of Morocco. This spring, Solar Impulse will attempt another world first by flying more than 2,500 km,(1,550 miles) without using a drop of
Testing
Jarno Smeets, a 32 year-old Dutchman and creator of the Human Birdwings Project, made history on Sunday with a record-breaking flight of over 100 meters in his local park achieved purely by flapping his wings. After 8 months of hard work, research and testing his hard work had payed off.
Testing
Mike Humphreys, Military Account Manager for the UK company Blue Bear, said at a DSTL technology day in London, UK, that although the product was launched during DSEi in September, the system is still being developed and will be ready for purchase when the company is confident in its maturity.
Testing
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center flew its Ikhana MQ-9 unmanned aircraft with an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B, device, for the first time on March 15. It was the first time an unmanned aircraft as large as Ikhana – with a 66-foot wingspan, a takeoff weight of more than
Electronic Sub-Systems
Chris Norton spent 22 years as a Royal Air Force fighter pilot before he co-founded 2Excel Aviation in 2005. The UK company operates a fleet of stunt planes known as the Blades and is licensed as an airline, so it can take fare-paying passengers on ride-alongs as the planes do
VTOL
A team at Webster Field Annex is working briskly to support an urgent Navy request to weaponize the MQ-8B Fire Scout, marking the first time the Navy will arm an unmanned aircraft. The Fire Scout team and NAVAIR’s structures rotary-wing division personnel conducted the first of a series of
Testing
Boeing has announced that the Phantom Eye high altitude long endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft has conducted its first medium-speed taxi test. The hydrogen-powered aircraft is designed for persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and communications. The test was conducted March 10 at Edwards Air Force Base in coordination with the
Testing
Military radar experts at the Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems segment and partner Raytheon Co. Space and Airborne Systems segment, both in El Segundo, California, will develop and install an advanced air-to-air and air-to-ground radar system for the Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk Block 40 high-endurance unmanned aircraft under terms