RW-1
7th Feb 2002, 18:36
First Flight: A160 Hummingbird. .Little VTOL UAV Takes First Forward Steps
On January 29, 2002, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/ Frontier Systems Inc. Hummingbird A160 vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle successfully conducted its first forward flight at the Southern California Logistics Airport, Victorville (CA).
All flight systems, including avionics, flight control, power plant and drive train, fuel systems, electrical power generation, data link and telemetry performed completely as planned.
The Hummingbird lifted off the tarmac in autonomous mode and climbed to a hover 50 feet above the ground for several minutes. The A160 then retracted its landing gear and executed test maneuvers including forward and backward flight, right and left slides and heading maneuvers.. .Following the hover sequence, Hummingbird transitioned into autonomous forward flight, climbing to 4,000 feet above mean sea level (1,200 feet above ground level). The air vehicle reached and sustained a speed of 45 knots during the majority of forward flight.
Flying autonomously, the A160 traveled several miles away from the ground control station. During flight, the Hummingbird maintained 80 percent of maximum rotor RPM using the patented variable speed rotor that is the focus for DARPA's Hummingbird program.
The Hummingbird concluded the flight by returning to the landing area and descending vertically to a gentle landing. The landing was conducted under operator-guided control. The flight lasted 20 minutes, limited by deteriorating weather.
DARPA program manager Art Morrish noted, "This flight was the culmination of many months of work by the Hummingbird government-industry team. I'm very pleased with this success and I look forward to additional flights over the coming months. The Hummingbird technology is going to bring the military a revolutionary new capability for rotorcraft and I expect to demonstrate this through our flight tests."
In preparation for the first forward flight, the Hummingbird A160 had previously demonstrated a brief hover on December 7, 2001.
The program team will now conduct a thorough analysis of telemetry data gathered during flight, followed by continued flight-testing and envelope expansion.
During the course of the planned 36 months of flight tests, the program will demonstrate variable RPM flight; completely autonomous flight operations including autonomous takeoff, waypoint navigation, and autonomous landing; and integration of various sensors such as electro-optical/infrared and radar packages.
The program's ultimate goals are to demonstrate these capabilities in conjunction with the overall program objective of more than 40 hours endurance and a 2,500 nautical mile range with a 300-pound payload.
FMI: <a href="http://www.darpa.mil" target="_blank">www.darpa.mil</a>
. .Interesting, a variable speed rotor, I believe outside of normal "beeping" .... thoughts?
On January 29, 2002, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/ Frontier Systems Inc. Hummingbird A160 vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle successfully conducted its first forward flight at the Southern California Logistics Airport, Victorville (CA).
All flight systems, including avionics, flight control, power plant and drive train, fuel systems, electrical power generation, data link and telemetry performed completely as planned.
The Hummingbird lifted off the tarmac in autonomous mode and climbed to a hover 50 feet above the ground for several minutes. The A160 then retracted its landing gear and executed test maneuvers including forward and backward flight, right and left slides and heading maneuvers.. .Following the hover sequence, Hummingbird transitioned into autonomous forward flight, climbing to 4,000 feet above mean sea level (1,200 feet above ground level). The air vehicle reached and sustained a speed of 45 knots during the majority of forward flight.
Flying autonomously, the A160 traveled several miles away from the ground control station. During flight, the Hummingbird maintained 80 percent of maximum rotor RPM using the patented variable speed rotor that is the focus for DARPA's Hummingbird program.
The Hummingbird concluded the flight by returning to the landing area and descending vertically to a gentle landing. The landing was conducted under operator-guided control. The flight lasted 20 minutes, limited by deteriorating weather.
DARPA program manager Art Morrish noted, "This flight was the culmination of many months of work by the Hummingbird government-industry team. I'm very pleased with this success and I look forward to additional flights over the coming months. The Hummingbird technology is going to bring the military a revolutionary new capability for rotorcraft and I expect to demonstrate this through our flight tests."
In preparation for the first forward flight, the Hummingbird A160 had previously demonstrated a brief hover on December 7, 2001.
The program team will now conduct a thorough analysis of telemetry data gathered during flight, followed by continued flight-testing and envelope expansion.
During the course of the planned 36 months of flight tests, the program will demonstrate variable RPM flight; completely autonomous flight operations including autonomous takeoff, waypoint navigation, and autonomous landing; and integration of various sensors such as electro-optical/infrared and radar packages.
The program's ultimate goals are to demonstrate these capabilities in conjunction with the overall program objective of more than 40 hours endurance and a 2,500 nautical mile range with a 300-pound payload.
FMI: <a href="http://www.darpa.mil" target="_blank">www.darpa.mil</a>
. .Interesting, a variable speed rotor, I believe outside of normal "beeping" .... thoughts?