VTOL Flexrotor Pushes Small UAV Endurance Limits
Submitted by tatwood on Wed, 10/25/2017 - 14:52
![](https://the-nref.org/sites/default/files/styles/620px_wide/public/DF-TECH-FLEXROTOR-3_Aerovel.jpg?itok=PMp0_V09)
![](https://the-nref.org/sites/default/files/styles/620px_wide/public/DF-TECH-FLEXROTOR-1_Aerovel.jpg?itok=xcdXbQS3)
AvWeek noted, “The 22-kg (48-lb.) Flexrotor is a tailsitter that takes off vertically like a helicopter then transitions to fuel-efficient wingborne flight, its two-blade proprotor providing both lift in vertical flight and thrust in forward flight.” AvWeek noted that the previous endurance record for a VTOL was “22 hr. 30 min., set in August 2016 by a Latitude Engineering HQ-60 hybrid quadrotor. The HQ-60 takes off vertically like a multicopter and transitions to wingborne flight using a pusher propeller.”