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Aerovel Flexrotor
Aerovel Corporation
was founded in 2006 by
Dr. Tad McGeer
, a designer of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) at various companies for more than 25 years.
[1]
McGeer co-founded The
Insitu Group
in 1992, where he was the architect of Aerosonde, SeaScan and ScanEagle. Aerovel Flexrotor is the next evolution in McGeer's line of unmanned aerial systems.
[2]
In January 2024, it was announced that Airbus would acquire the company.
[3]
When the transaction was completed in May of the same year,
[4]
Aerovel became part of Airbus' helicopter unit.
Product
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Aerovel Flexrotor
The Aerovel Flexrotor unmanned aerial system (UAS) is designed for maritime
[5]
and land-based operations, day and night, and combines endurance and expeditionary capabilities. It needs a 20' by 20' area for launch and recovery. Flexrotor takes off and lands vertically (VTOL)
[6]
and then transitions into horizontal wing-borne flight. It flies completely automatically after takeoff, with no pilot intervention needed. Flexrotor quickly assembles for flight, can be rapidly re-stowed in its compact case for storage and transported on a small flatbed truck.
Aerovel Flexrotor has a flight endurance of more than 32 hours,
[7]
which is a record-setting Group 2 UAS flight endurance, and a 100-kilometer communications range. It is an all-weather aircraft that has operated in harsh conditions including off of various vessels in the Arctic
[8]
and tropics.
[9]
A fixed-wing aircraft, Aerovel Flexrotor requires no runway or launch and retrieval equipment. It is designed for observation, monitoring, intelligence gathering, communications relay, surveillance, reconnaissance,
[10]
security and scientific data collection. It can be used for a diverse range of commercial, civil and military applications at sea and on land. Airbus Helicopters acquired this product with their acquisition of Aerovel in January 2024.
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