{"id":12014,"date":"2016-01-04T14:55:25","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T19:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12014"},"modified":"2016-01-08T01:05:25","modified_gmt":"2016-01-08T06:05:25","slug":"video-urbanaeros-airmule-vtol-vehicle-successfully-demos-untethered-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12014","title":{"rendered":"Sci-Tech &#8211; Video: UrbanAero&#8217;s AirMule VTOL vehicle successfully demos untethered flight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For several years I&#8217;ve been following the efforts of\u00a0Israel&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.urbanaero.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Urban Aeronautics<\/a>\u00a0to develop a large ducted-fan vertical takeoff and landing vehicle. Good to see that they have now carried out an untethered flight of a full-scale\u00a0unmanned AirMule vehicle. (The company has two subsidiaries,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.tactical-robotics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tactical Robotics Ltd.<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.metro-skyways.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Metro Skyways Ltd.<\/a>, each aiming to develop the AirMule for different markets.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.urbanaero.com\/category\/2015\">AirMule successfully completed its first autonomous, untethered flight<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NBBSXleDG-I?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>2015 was a challenging year that included a ground incident that damaged our AirMule demonstrator.\u00a0 While the repair of the aircraft imposed a delay of several months on our development schedule, it also gave us an opportunity to make significant upgrades to the aircraft systems.\u00a0 We installed new equipment and integrated new safety features.\u00a0 In parallel to the repair and upgrade activity we initiated and carried out a rigorous examination process with the Israeli CAA in order to get authorization for untethered flight testing.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200920012045-R1.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-12016\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"12016\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=12016\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200920012045-R1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"667,375\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Photo%20Dec%2030,%2009%2001%2045-R[1]\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200920012045-R1.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12016\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200920012045-R1.jpg\" alt=\"Photo%20Dec%2030,%2009%2001%2045-R[1]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200920012045-R1.jpg 667w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200920012045-R1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nThe good news is that on December 30th, AirMule successfully completed its first autonomous, untethered flight at the Megiddo airfield in northern Israel.\u00a0\u00a0 We were extremely pleased to get permission from the CAA to fly in Megiddo and were able to set up a portable testing facility with full-time access to a small airfield.\u00a0 The testing schedule in Megiddo includes plans for a demonstration of AirMule&#8217;s cargo delivery capability as well as a &#8216;beyond the line of sight&#8217; flight along a path running through an adjacent, forested area.\u00a0 All in all, we expect that in 2016 we will finally be able to demonstrate some of AirMule&#8217;s unique capabilities.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200620282024-R1.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-12017\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"12017\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=12017\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200620282024-R1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"667,375\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Photo%20Dec%2030,%2006%2028%2024-R[1]\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200620282024-R1.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12017\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200620282024-R1.jpg\" alt=\"Photo%20Dec%2030,%2006%2028%2024-R[1]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200620282024-R1.jpg 667w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200620282024-R1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nAdditionally, we achieved &#8216;category 2&#8217; certification for an export variant of the aircraft known as &#8216;Cormorant&#8217;, under the international Missile Technology Control Regime (MCTR), an important element in the eventual marketing of the aircraft.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"12015\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=12015\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200720472057-R1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"350,263\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Photo%20Dec%2030,%2007%2047%2057-R[1]\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200720472057-R1.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12015\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200720472057-R1.jpg\" alt=\"Photo%20Dec%2030,%2007%2047%2057-R[1]\" width=\"350\" height=\"263\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200720472057-R1.jpg 350w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Photo20Dec2030200720472057-R1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><br \/>\nWe will keep you posted on developments.<\/p>\n<p>====<\/p>\n<p>More details about the AirMule can be found in this\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.tactical-robotics.com\/userfiles\/files\/AirMule%20Data%20Sheet%20(small)_1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">data sheet (pdf)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For several years I&#8217;ve been following the efforts of\u00a0Israel&#8217;s Urban Aeronautics\u00a0to develop a large ducted-fan vertical takeoff and landing vehicle. Good to see that they have now carried out an untethered flight of a full-scale\u00a0unmanned AirMule vehicle. (The company has two subsidiaries,\u00a0Tactical Robotics Ltd. and Metro Skyways Ltd., each aiming to develop the AirMule for &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12014\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sci-Tech &#8211; Video: UrbanAero&#8217;s AirMule VTOL vehicle successfully demos untethered flight<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-and-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-37M","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5824,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5824","url_meta":{"origin":12014,"position":0},"title":"Sci-Tech: UrbanAero&#8217;s fancraft AirMule making test flights","author":"TopSpacer","date":"December 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Urban Aeronautics\u00a0in Israel has begun untethered unmanned flight tests of their vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL)\u00a0prototype\u00a0AirMule vehicle: \"AirMule Achieves Major Milestone on the Path to Full Mission Demonstrations\" The AirMule, an unmanned VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft developed by Tactical Robotics Ltd., a subsidiary of Urban Aeronautics, Ltd., has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.urbanaero.com\/userfiles\/images\/photo1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6810,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6810","url_meta":{"origin":12014,"position":1},"title":"SciTech: UrbanAero selects Green Hills to provide operating sysem for AirMule UAS","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a recent announcement from\u00a0Urban Aeronautics\u00a0of Israel. I have followed the UrbanAero development of large vertical-takeoff\/vertical-landing ducted fan vehicles for several years. Green Hills Software INTEGRITY RTOS chosen by Urban Aeronautics for AirMule Unmanned Aerial System Green Hills Software, the largest independent vendor of embedded software solutions, has announced that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/s94JDmwlZZo\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8023,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8023","url_meta":{"origin":12014,"position":2},"title":"SciTech: Update on UrbanAero&#8217;s AirMule","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I've posted several times over the years about UrbanAero's AirMule\u00a0-\u00a0a vertical takeoff and landing vehicle with two ducted fans that is now being developed within\u00a0their\u00a0Tactical Robotics\u00a0division. This week the BBC has a video report on the vehicle :\u00a0Could ambulance drones appear on the battlefield? - BBC?\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3219,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=3219","url_meta":{"origin":12014,"position":3},"title":"Sci-Tech: Updates on VTOL vehicle projects at UrbanAero and Aerofex","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"UrbanAero, which I've posted about occasionally over the years, is developing vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, both manned and unmanned, based on a design using large ducted fans. They have recently split their efforts into two subsidiaries:\u00a0 Tactical Robotics will focus on military and homeland security markets while Metro Skyways\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tactical-robotics.com\/userfiles\/images\/4%282%29.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13501,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13501","url_meta":{"origin":12014,"position":4},"title":"Sci-Tech: Urban Aero Cormorant UAV completes first autonomous pattern flight","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently posted an item about the\u00a0Urban Aero\u2018s Cormorant\/AirMule\u00a0vertical-take off and landing (VTOL) ducted fan autonomous vehicle. Here is a video just released of a test flight: Urban Aeronautics is pleased to announce that on November 3, 2016 its Cormorant Unmanned Air vehicle (UAV) prototype has performed its first autonomous\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/PByFlMyAYpg\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13712,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13712","url_meta":{"origin":12014,"position":5},"title":"Sci-Tech: Update on 2 vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) vehicles","author":"TopSpacer","date":"January 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest video update from EHANG\u00a0of China on the development of the EHANG 184 autonomous aerial vehicle\u00a0for single passenger air taxi services: https:\/\/youtu.be\/F8shiw6zY_A AvWeek has a brief article about the project:\u00a0Video: EHang Reports Progress With Autonomous Air Taxi - Aviation Week\u00a0- The company says it is on its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/F8shiw6zY_A\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12014"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12042,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12014\/revisions\/12042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}