Airbus Defence and Space has announced that the Zephyr 7 High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) has just completed its most demanding mission to date and thus set a new benchmark in persistent, year-round operations for this class of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The test consisted of over 11 days of non-stop flight, in winter weather conditions with a new primary payload, including flight controlled through satellite communications – three more benchmarks reached by Zephyr 7.
Category Archives: Aircraft Propulsion & Energy
Virginia Tech ‘Gobble Hawk’ Wins NASA Design Contest For Unmanned Aircraft
A Virginia Tech Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering student team won First place in a NASA-sponsored competition with its design of a twin-fuselage unmanned aircraft fueled by liquid hydrogen. The annual University Aeronautics Engineering Design Challenge was sponsored by NASA and not meant to create aircraft that will be built and flown, but to spur design skills among college engineering students.
New “Dual Carbon” Battery Charges 20 Times Faster than Li-ion
Japanese company Power Japan Plus has announced the development and planned mass-production of “Ryden,” a disruptive carbon battery that can be charged 20 times faster than an ordinary lithium-ion cell. The battery, which is cheap to manufacture, safe, and environmentally friendly, could be ideal to improve the range and charging times of electric cars. Continue reading
UAV Factory Delivers Turnkey Fuel Injected Engines
UAV Factory has started deliveries of its own turnkey Fuel Injected Engines. UAV28-EFI is a turnkey fuel injected engine system developed for small unmanned aircraft vehicles with up to 55 lbs takeoff weight. The engine is supplied with the UAV Factory’s proven 100W onboard generator system, proprietary silent muffler, automatic temperature control duct, UAV Factory’s proprietary ECU and fuel pump assembly.
CybAero Announces New Engine Supplier
First North-listed CybAero, which develops and markets unmanned helicopters, announced at a press conference at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK that it is switching to a new engine and engine supplier for its Apid 60 aircraft.
Predator B ER Conducts First Long-Range Endurance Flight
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI) has announced the successful second endurance flight of its Predator B Extended Range (ER) RPA, an advanced derivative of the mission-proven Predator B RPA that has accumulated over 800,000 flight hours since 2001. The flight launched on June 17 and landed on June 18. Continue reading
Lycoming Engines Sees New Markets In UAS
Textron’s Lycoming Engines division has found new markets for its man-rated piston engines in the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) segment. For Lycoming, which is celebrating its 85th year manufacturing aircraft engines, its participation in current UAS developments isn’t the company’s first foray into providing engines for unmanned aircraft.
US Marine Corps Shifts Money from Shadow to Finance Blackjack Engine Upgrade
The US Marine Corps (USMC) has requested that the US Congress allow it to shift USD18.75 million from its RQ-7B Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to its RQ-21 Blackjack UAV programme in order to extend the latter’s range.