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Archive for May 2011

Aurora Excalibur VTOL UAV First Flight

GamerDna

Aurora Flight Sciences video of the first flight of its Excalibur experimental vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft. The 13ft-long UAV is powered by a tilting jet engine and three battery-powered lift fans. The aircraft made its first hover flight, lasting just under 2min, at Aberdeen proving Gorund in maryland on June 24. Excalibur is a proof-of-principle testbed for a 400kt VTOL unmanned combat aircraft. (This is a slightly different version of the video previously uploaded – my apologies.) For more info on Excalibur, visit www.aviationweek.com