TELEDRONE successfully test-fly 66% scale quad aimed at Part 103 kit-build market in the US for general purpose use in ground-effect.
The airframe features the cantilevered layout featured by the team during the finals of the GoFly Challenge, set within a square outline that supports four motors and a set of skids.
The outline is designed for the addition of four more motors in X-8 configuration for higher level operation, with the company convinced that a market exists in substituting an extendable airframe for hovercraft, watercraft and ATVs.
Intended for a market launch in 2022, the 48” frame with five-kilowatt motors and 32” propellers will be used as the basis of a crowdfunding campaign to support the build of a 60” frame with ten-kilowatt motors to be test-flown at full-scale.
Subsequently a beta-product will be produced with a final selection of power-unit and propeller, to meet advance delivery orders.
Vehicle designer and company founder Colin Hilton commented: “Resonance is the issue with multicopters as they are scaled up, and we’ve achieved acceptable results without recourse to carbon-fiber and using commercial off-the-shelf methods that will ensure that aviation remains both safe and cost-effective. We’re looking at price-points below $50,000 but I’m ever ready to swallow my words…”.
The illustration features the same airframe with over-slung power-units, although the prototype and proposed beta-product will feature under-slung propellers separated from the pilot/operator by a protective grille.
The content of a press release aimed at the VFS. I don't send it any place else, for in this business you know who your friends are...
