UAV ApusDuo completes first flight

The US company UAVOS is developing different types of drones and UAVs: Beside vertical take-off and landing UAV’s, UAVOS is developing several fixed-wing products.

 One of its product is the ApusDuo, which is a high altitude pseudo satellite (HAPS). The idea of the drone is that it circles for a long time in very large higher above the earth. As the aircraft receives its power by solar panels which are installed on the wings, the UAV only requires to land for maintenance. These types of UAVs can be used for video surveillance and monitoring, broadband coverage as well as R&D flying laboratory.

After several months of development, a first prototype has now performed its first test flight. The 10-meter prototype made for testing control algorithms, including take-off and landing, full-scale verification of HAPS aerodynamics. According to UAVOS, the test flights fully confirmed the flight characteristics of the UAV.

The real ApusDuo will have a wing span of 28 meters and will be able to operate in an altitude between 12.000 and 20.000 meters.