48ft-wingspan autonomous cargo delivery drone to debut at Farnborough

Yates Electrospace Corp. (YEC) has completed design and specifications of a wide-body version of its Silent Arrow GD-2000 cargo delivery drone, with unveiling set for July 20-24, 2020, at the Farnborough International Airshow.

Developed with customers in tactical resupply and humanitarian/disaster relief markets, the wide-body is 60% larger than the standard GD-2000, with a 140ft3 cargo bay that accommodates 5x more load.

“The YEC engineering team used current flight data from the inaugural GD-2000 product line along with extensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to optimize the aerodynamics and glide ratio of this rather massive cargo delivery platform,” says YEC’s Founder and CEO Chip Yates.

The MEL Group, whose Silent Arrow contract manufacturing license has been extended to include serial production of the GD-2000 WB, will support YEC at Farnborough 2020.

Patent enhances drone safety

Delivery service drone manufacturer Flirtey has been granted a patent that enhances safety for drones equipped with parachutes.

The patent recognizes a drone’s ability to detect an operation error while it’s in flight, deploying a safety mechanism, if needed. This alleviates risk of contact and/or injury to bystanders, while also sparing the unmanned aircraft.

Flirtey holds more than 25 U.S. and global patents, granted and pending.

Kaman advances autonomous flight programs

Kaman Air Vehicles, a division of Kaman Corp., is advancing its military and commercial K-MAX unmanned aerial systems (UAS) programs. Kaman will continue developing next-generation K-MAX UAS to support U.S. Marine Corps’ future operating concepts. Two USMC K-MAX air vehicles being upgraded through a contract with the U.S. Navy will include a new unmanned system, ground control station, and sensor-based autonomy.

Kaman is also developing a K-MAX UAS kit for commercial applications with first flight scheduled for Q3 2020. Helicopter Express Inc. of Chamblee, Georgia, and Swanson Group Aviation of Glendale, Oregon, are the launch customers and have placed orders for unmanned system kits for delivery in 2021. The unmanned kit will be installed on existing aircraft and on new production K-MAX helicopters.

Sky Power ISO recertified

Sky Power GmbH has been recertified to ISO 9001:2015 requirements for quality management.

“The recognition is important for us as an international company,” explains Sky Power Managing Director Karsten Schudt.

The company focuses on achieving highest quality, excellent customer care, and an efficient, sustainable, lean manufacturing process. “An external certification organization attests again that we fulfill these self-imposed requirements,” Schudt adds.

The German manufacturer makes 2-stroke combustion engines and Wankel engines for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and hybrid power applications.

Sky Power America LCC in Lafayette, Colorado, focuses on the American market.