Alsace-based Flying Robots, an unmanned air vehicle manufacturer, has made a certification request to the European Aviation Safety Agency for its FR102-UAV cargo transporter.

The FR102-UAV can transport over 350km (647nm) up to 250kg (550lb) of payload stored within a 1m3 (3ft3) volume, or 50kg over a distance of 1,600km. The UAV has four main elements, its wing, the avionics with a fully automatic take-off and landing capability from unprepared ground, its trike and a datalink to a ground station that allows remote piloting and route programming. The company gives an operational cost figure of €120 ($166) per hour.

Flying Robots says: "A diesel version and a variant called Teleporteur are under consideration."

Teleporteur has a route programming system, also being considered by EASA according to Flying Robots, that has access control. This enables a certificated user to programme a route and altitude leaving untrained operators to only start or shut down the engine and load, unload the cargo at the beginning and end of the journey. Flying Robots expects the user interface prototype for this system to be ready for testing by the end of 2009.

The company is also a partner in the Border Surveillance by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle consortium study. This consortium includes Alenia Aeronautica, Dassault Aviation, Eurosense, Sener, Saab Aerosystems and Thales. The study is to present a structured analysis of the potential contribution of UAVs to peacetime security on European borders.

Source: Flight Daily News

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