Category Archives: VTOL

US Navy’s New, Bigger Fire Scout To Fly in Autumn

There’s a new Fire Scout in the pipeline — bigger, faster, longer legs, more muscle. It’s still being assembled and won’t fly until later this year, but it’s headed for the fleet as soon as late 2014. And it could fundamentally change some of the parameters expected of the US Navy’s seagoing unmanned helicopter programme. Continue reading →

Solar-Powered OctoCopter

Ecilop Solar (Ecilop-8) is controlled as a quad-copter, 8 rotors are connected pair-wise. There is no onboard battery. To configure controllers inside a building, the user connects an external battery. To restart the controller in sunlight, the user bridges the power leads. The vehicle remains airborne because of ground effect and automatically maintains a horizontal attitude. Continue reading →

Eurocopter X3 Hybrid Helicopter Creates New Speed Record at 263 knots – 487 km/hr

The Eurocopter X3 hybrid helicopter has opened the frontiers of aviation by attaining a speed milestone of 255 knots (472 km/hr) in level flight on June 7. Several days before this accomplishment, the X3 reached a speed of 263 knots (487 km/hr) during a descent. With these two successes, the X3 surpasses the unofficial speed record for a helicopter. Continue reading →

YO! Burgers Delivered by QuadCopter in London

Restaurant chain YO! Sushi has claimed it is trialling a flying tray gadget to speed up the delivery of food to its customers’ tables. The Japanese firm says its waiters can now whizz the bizarre iPad-controlled iTray over tables and between chairs at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour, or six times faster than they usually walk. Continue reading →