Swiss VTOL manufacturer Dufour Aerospace has completed its first successful hover flight of its production-ready hybrid-electric VTOL drone.
The ‘X2.3’ prototype of Dufour’s Aero2 autonomous tilt-wing drone hovered at 10 metres for three minutes with the aim of showcasing its stability and control when in a hovered state.
A tilt-wing aircraft can rotate its wings for vertical take off and landing and readjust the angle for horizontal flight. The Aero2 was designed with this configuration to carry high payloads across long distances.
“Tilt-wing aircrafts are the ideal in-beween of helicopters and fixed-wing aircrafts. They offer full vertical take-off and landing capabilities while being as efficient and safe as a fixed-wing aircraft,” Dufour Aerospace’s CEO Sascha Hardegger told Zag Daily.
With a 400 kilometre range, the Aero2 is designed to serve long-range transportation of critical goods like blood, vaccines and medicines. It’s also designed to be suited for defence missions and surveillance.
The Aero2 can carry a 40 kilogram payload in its standard configuration and 20 kilograms in its long-range configuration, with a maximum speed of 170 kilometres per hour.
Following its successful hover flight, Dufour Aerospace will now undergo testing into how the Aero2 transitions from a hover state to forward flight, with a series of tests in various conditions.
