October 5, 2005 Innovative air vehicle developer AirScooter has featured in Gizmag previously with its AirScooter II, a vehicle we dubbed, “The Helicopter for the Home.” Things have been moving quickly for the company in recent times, with several patented and patent-pending aeronautical products being developed to employ coaxial rotor technology. These products include a high-performance AirScout 70” Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and an electric powered UAV, both targeted at the commercial and military markets.
The electric E70 is based on the company’s high-performance gasoline engine G70 UAV platform. After the G70 prototype met rigorous flight requirements, five new AirScooter G70s have been assembled using a more powerful engine to increase payload and are being prepped for flight testing and sale. AirScooter UAVs are in the tactical VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) class, positioned between the high-end hobby category and the limited selection of expensive military/commercial UAVs available today. Easily transportable, these robust craft are ideally suited for aerial photography, surveillance, research and a range of homeland security applications.
AirScooter unmanned aerial vehicles feature a rugged patented coaxial flight platform providing outstanding hovering ability, stable flight, precision response and control all in an economical package. Both the G70 and E70 employ a 70-inch coaxial rotor and control system, minimizing the complexity of coaxial systems of the past, but scalable to future craft, smaller or larger in size.
The G70 is powered by a modern 7.5 hp twin engine, weighs about 32 pounds, with a payload of 10 pounds plus and flight duration of about 45 minutes. The E70 employs a battery powered high-end (1500 watts continuous – 3500 watts maximum) cobalt motor, weighs approximately 30 pounds with batteries, has an estimated payload of 5 pounds or more and flight duration of about 8-15 minutes. With no commercial speed controller available to meet the demanding power requirements of the E70, the company sponsored production of a proprietary custom speed controller resulting in one of the largest electric powered VTOL air vehicles to be commercially available. More complete specifications, subject to change as more flight and performance data is obtained, are on our web site at www.airscooter.net.
“Gene Rock, chief UAV engineer, designed AirScooter UAVs to be easily remotely guided or automated by any number of third party computerized flight systems,” said Dwaine Barnes, president of AirScooter Corporation. “We employ computerized engineering in our air vehicle designs allowing more rapid transition from prototype to automated production techniques and making it easier to accommodate a customer’s particular requirements.”
Barnes added, “We are excited about the early product response and look forward to showing more customers the capabilities and advantages of our coaxial control system. We are seeing interest from commercial and government sectors of the market, domestically and overseas. Whether the requirement is for quiet electric performance or long duration gasoline powered flight, we provide a compelling solution for customers dissatisfied with the limitations of high-end hobby craft but unable to justify the high costs of commercial/military UAVs often costing US$100,000 to US$500,000 or more.”