American startup Elroy Air has presented a pre-production version of its Chaparral hybrid cargo drone. The vertical take-off and landing device is capable of autonomously capturing cargo weighing up to 227 kilograms and delivering it to a distance of up to 483 kilometers.
A lot of companies are developing cargo drones today. Most of these devices can only carry 3-3.5 kilograms, but there are exceptions. For example, 216L can lift up to 200 kilograms of cargo into the air, CAV - up to 227 kilograms, T-650, while existing only as a concept, will have to carry up to 300 kilograms.
Elroy Air showed a prototype of a hybrid cargo drone for heavy cargo transportation in 2019 and at the same time began its flight tests. It was a drone made according to an airplane scheme with six rotors for vertical takeoff and landing, located on two beams. The device also had a pushing propeller for horizontal flight.
On Wednesday, the startup presented a pre-production version of a cargo hybrid drone, called Chaparral. Unlike the prototype, it has eight propellers for vertical takeoff and landing. They are located on four beams on the sides of the fuselage. Four more propellers are on the wing. All of them are fully electric, but apart from that Chaparral has a gas turbine generator.
In a container under the fuselage, shaped like a canoe, the drone can carry cargo weighing up to 227 kilograms at a distance of up to 482 kilometers. Elroy Air says it has agreed to produce more than 500 Chaparral. In particular, the American regional airline Mesa Airlines is going to order 150 drones. In addition, the startup cooperates with the US Air Force under the Agility Prime program.
Earlier we wrote about an American airplane drone that will deliver cargo without landing. It is designed by the startup ThereCraft.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva
