While perusing the many sights and sounds of the 2008 Heli-Expo, ANN's Aero-TV crews got a look at an intriguing helicopter-based UAV program with a number of missions applications and capabilities. Call the CybAero 'Vantage', this UAV is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned helicopter developed by US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). With fully autonomous flight operation and differential GPS navigation, CybAero claims the Vantage can perform a wide variety of missions in both military and commercial applications.
The Vantage is powered by a specially configured UEL 801 42-HP heavy-fuel (JP5, JP8, Jet A) rotary engine, utilizing an electrically driven ducted tail rotor, powered by an onboard starter/generator. This configuration saves weight and mechanical complexity. The overall fuselage length is 112 inches with a rotor diameter of 109 inches. CybAero utilizes a foldable tri-blade system making the Vantage HMMWV-transportable. It has a gross weight of 380 ...
