UAVs: Eagle Eye flies, GKN to produce X-47B

摘要

Bell Helicopter's (Fort Worth, Texas) TR918 Eagle Eye Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) lifted off the ground for the first time on January 26, achieving its first flight milestone. Described by Bell as a "runway-less solution" for loiter-style military surveillance and reconnaissance, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a 5.5m/18-ft-long VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) hybrid rotorcraft. It features a short 4.3m/14-ft wingspan and two 3.1m/10-ft rotors. The craft lifted off vertically and hovered for nine minutes, executing yaw and translation maneuvers (moving its tiltrotors), before landing. A second flight was made within 30 minutes of the maiden flight.