Testing
Shape look familiar? This historic video from the US National Archives shows the Northrop Flying Wing (N-1M) being tested over the Mojave Desert in 1941. Northrop's first flying "wing" in 1929 was very conservative and did have a small tail. All of Northrop’s designs
Testing
This video shows versions of DARPA and Boston Dynamics robots climbing stairs, walking on a treadmill and doing pushups. A modified platform resembling these robots is expected to be used as government-funded equipment (GFE) for performers in Tracks B and C of the DARPA Robotics Challenge . The GFE Platform
VTOL
Schiebel just released this video [below] of the "Making Of' the first flight integrating CINEFLEX technology. Schiebel's CAMCOPTER S-100 UAS integrated with CINEFLEX is the ultimate gyro-stabilized solution for aerial cinematography. The CINEFLEX is a multi-axis coordinated gimbal control system that provides layered
Testing
AR Drone just released this new video of the 2.o version fitted with an HD video camera.As their blurb says "The AR.Drone 2.0 is at the crossroads where high-tech meets Icarus dream. Fly like a bird. View the earth from high above in high
Commercial
The Kansas State University Department of Agronomy recently purchased a new MAJA Unmanned Aircraft System, with the intent of installing imaging systems on it for studying plant productivity, monitoring plant growth stages, assessing plant health, and mapping plant composition for characterizing changes in distribution of invasive and toxic plant species.
Commercial
CAE and Aeronautics have announced that the first series of flights of the Miskam unmanned aircraft system (UAS) have been conducted successfully over the past several weeks at the UAS Centre of Excellence (Centre d’excellence des drones) located at Alma airport in Quebec, Canada. The demonstration flights represent the
Testing
An Australian named Chris Malloy has built a Hoverbike from motorbike parts, which he claims can fly at 173mph at an altitude of 3,000 metres. With a 1170 cc 4-stroke engine delivering 80 kW driving two ducted propellers, the inventor of the Hoverbike, Chris Malloy, says with its
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
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,
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
Propulsion
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