Helicopters are incredibly manoeuvrable in the air, but during landing and takeoff their traditional skid- and wheel-based landing gear requires stable, flat surfaces—surfaces that are often unavailable in helicopter-needy environs such as forward operating areas, ships at sea and natural-disaster zones. Having the ability to land on and take off from angled, irregular and moving surfaces would greatly expand the effectiveness of helicopters across many military and national security missions. Continue reading
Category Archives: Take-Off & Landing
Gray Eagle Completes 20,000 Automated Takeoffs And Landings
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. announced that its Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) has reached a record 20,000 successful automatic launch and recoveries with the Automatic Takeoff and Landing System (ATLS). This milestone was achieved on September 25 and comes just 15 months after reaching 10,000 events in June 2012.
Boeing Little Bird Completes Autonomous Landing Procedures
Lyle Chamberlain a Research Engineer at Near Earth Autonomy, shows how Boeing’s Unmanned Little Bird uses LIDAR to identify the best landing site. Continue reading
Ice Protection Specialists Focus on Unmanned Aircraft
CAV Ice Protection’s engineering staff, recently relocated to New Century Airport, are increasing focus on the company’s expertise in developing ice protection for unmanned flight. Continue reading
X-47B Self-Aborted Planned Third Landing Due to Sub-System Anomaly
A malfunction during the Navy’s high-profile test flight of its X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System showed that the aircraft can operate in adverse conditions, service officials said. Continue reading
First Arrested Landing of a Tailless Unmanned Aircraft Aboard an Aircraft Carrier
Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy have completed the first arrested landing of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) carrier demonstration aircraft on the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). Continue reading
X-47B UCAS – Aviation History Under Way
Northrop Grumman just released this dramatic promotion clip of the historic first catapult launch of a U.S. Navy unmanned aircraft system from a carrier, May 2013. Includes touch-and-go sequences. Continue reading
First F-35B Vertical Takeoff Test
An F-35B test aircraft completes the first-ever vertical takeoff (VTO) at NAS Patuxent River, Md., on May 10, 2013. Continue reading