Hydrogen fuel cells are steadily catching on in ground-based transportation, but could they soon be a fixture of our airspace? That appears to be the goal for Virginia Beach-based drone delivery firm DroneUp. The Walmart partner, which powers the retailer’s largest-in-the-nation commercial drone delivery network, recently announced its plans to test hydrogen fuel cell technology from Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI), one of the first firms to commercialize hydrogen-powered drones. The DMI and DroneUp agreement was first initiated in October 2022. DMI’s hydrogen fuel cell technology yields 3-to ..read more

H3 Dynamics and Hylium Industries have joined forces to boost the performance of zero emission hydrogen-electric flight for a cross-Atlantic demonstration drone flight. Hylium and H3 Dynamics technologies are currently being integrated to attempt a 3,300km crossing of the South Atlantic, in a program led by ISAE SUPAERO Toulouse, one of the world’s leading aerospace engineering schools. The companies are combining the strengths of Hylium’s liquid hydrogen storage and liquification solutions, and H3 Dynamics’ distributed hydrogen-electric propulsion nacelles, ultra-light fuel cells, and new hyd ..read more

Defensenews.com reported that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has taken a major step forward toward creating an experimental airplane that can be maneuvered without traditional ailerons or other mechanical devices, instead using short bursts of air. DARPA has tapped Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing subsidiary, to start detailed design of an experimental aircraft that uses air bursts to maneuver. DARPA selected Aurora Flight Sciences to start detailed design of an aircraft that uses a technology called active flow control to direct it, as part of the Control of Revolutiona ..read more

With drone delivery services in the news lately, most people have been wondering when—and how—they’ll get their first packages. We asked Adam Woodworth, CEO of Wing—a drone-delivery company owned by Alphabet Inc., which is also Google’s parent company—about the process. In 2019, Wing became the first drone-delivery company to receive approval from the FAA, and since then they have delivered hundreds of thousands of packages. Model Airplane News: Where are the drones currently being flown? Adam Woodworth: In the United States, Wing is delivering packages by drone in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro ..read more

FulcrumAir has created a unique drone design that diverts birds from powerlines, protecting both energy infrastructure and Avian wildlife. The company has announced the installation of more than 1,500 Power Line Sentry Hawk Eye Bird Flight Diverters (BFDs) under a pilot program for Atlantic City Electric, which serves about 560,000 customers across southern New Jersey. The work was done by FulcrumAir, working in collaboration with MJ Electric, in South Jersey on five transmission lines in high-risk bird collision areas. BFDs are installed on overhead wires where there is a risk of avian mortal ..read more

BAE Systems, Australia, has unveiled a fascinating new autonomous, hybrid, VTOL UAV for military use. The STRIX, developed in Australia, folds to fit inside a shipping container, and is capable of carrying 160 kg (353 lb) of payload over 800 km (500 miles). The STRIX was unveiled at Australia’s recent Avalon Air Show, in front of air force chiefs from around the world – with the notable exceptions, according to ABC News, of Russian and Chinese delegates, who had been excluded from the conference. BAE Systems has developed the aircraft in conjunction with Perth-based Innovaero. It describes the ..read more

A new Chinese drone, the TJ-FlyingFish, is gaining attention as it looks like something straight out of a Hollywood movie. It is a transformer robot capable of autonomously navigating underwater as an uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) and flying in the air as a quadcopter. The drone was developed by a team of scientists from China’s Shanghai Research Institute for Intelligent Autonomous Systems, Tongji University, and the Unmanned Systems Research Group at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It weighs 3.6 pounds, can hover in the air for 6 minutes and travel underwater at 6.5 feet per second ..read more

An Autel Robotics drone was used by a scientific team of international academics to document activities on Irazú Volcano in Costa Rica. The Autel EVO Lite+ drone was selected by the scientists because of its high-quality sensor and durability, making it an ideal solution for conducting professional research with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The EVO Lite+ was able to fly safely through 17 knot winds and can be used in conditions up to 37 knots, making it a perfect fit for the high-altitude project. The drone was piloted by Ian Godfrey, a certified FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot, who is SINAC Ce ..read more

Ameriflight, the nation’s largest Part 135 Cargo airline, announces a signed letter of intent to purchase 35 VTOL air cargo drones from Sabrewing Aircraft Company, Inc., a U.S. corporation designing and producing a new generation of regional cargo UAV that offers high-efficiency, all-weather operation with vertical landing and takeoff (VTOL) capabilities. The agreement is for the Rhaegal-A aircraft, also known as “Alpha,” the world’s best-in-class, highest fuel and maintenance efficiency cargo UAV on the market. Ameriflight expects to take delivery following type certification of the aircraft ..read more

Spright has announced that it earned a nationwide, non-geo-specific Certificate of Waiver (CoW) for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations from the FAA. The CoW allows small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) to travel up to four nautical miles for critical utility infrastructure surveys. This waiver puts Spright in a unique position to maximize service efficiency for utility customers across the United States. “Spright is proud to have earned the FAA’s first non-geo-specific BVLOS waiver for utility inspection, and we believe it is a testament to our aviation-minded culture that ..read more