VTOL
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JPA's Speeder is a highly modular Air Utility Vehicle, a transition-capable drone platform running on insanely powerful jet turbines. It can be configured as a manned flying motorcycle or high-speed cargo drone, and prototype P1.5 is now in testing.
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Although fixed-wing drones can fly farther and faster than multicopters, they typically require runways to take off and land. The Vetal flying-wing drone addresses that compromise, with a rather striking "tail-sitter" design.
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Two years ago we first heard about the AB5 JetQuad, a jet-powered VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) drone. Well, it's time to meet its new-and-improved successor, the AB6. Among other things, it has an estimated top speed of 250 mph.
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The fascinating CycloTech eVTOL prototype has taken its first flight tests, running its paddle steamer-style "Cyclogiro" propulsion system, which offers some interesting advantages over typical multirotor-style designs.
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In 2018, we heard how UK startup Volerian was planning to build a VTOL aircraft with a flapping-wing propulsion system. Although we've yet to see a working model, the company has now incorporated the tech into what it claims is a better room fan.
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Paragon VTOL Aerospace is working on a second-gen version of its nine-seat Soar air taxi design, and it's settled on hydrogen-burning engines that'll deliver monster range figures between 300-900 miles (480-1,450 km) depending on passenger numbers.
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Northrop Grumman and Martin UAV have completed flight tests of an enhanced V-BAT unmanned aircraft system as part of the US Army's competition to replace the aging RQ-7B Shadow drone for Army Brigade Combat Teams, Special Forces, and Ranger battalions.
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Forget your friendly little electric air taxis. The USAF wants to take things up a notch with a new generation of high-speed vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Thirty five designs have been presented, here's a peek at a few that caught our eye.
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UAV Factory has rolled out its Penguin C Mk2 VTOL pilot-less rotorcraft, which increases flight efficiency with automatic hoods that stow away the lift rotors. The new technology reduces drag in horizontal flight, increasing endurance by 20 percent.
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Superyacht designer Steve Kozloff has turned his hand to next-gen aviation with a twin-prop VTOL aircraft that promises a monster 1,380-mile range, as well as the ability to take off and land conventionally where there's a runway.
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After spending 18 months building an entirely new form of flight control software, California's Jetpack Aviation has finished flight testing the odd-looking first prototype of the Speeder, a high-speed, jet turbine-powered flying motorcycle.
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Russia's Foundation for Advanced Research has already flown a 60-kg prototype of its Cyclocar VTOL aircraft, which uses a super-responsive cyclical propeller propulsion system. A full-size, long-range, six-seat Cyclocar is expected within a few years.
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