July 2011

We are back from the Paris Airshow after a very successful week where we had the opportunity to update a great number of people on our progress with the AirMule program. Our plans for the next few months are predominantly to continue our flight testing. Below are some pictures from last week's event and also a picture of the AirMule prototype in one of its recent hover tests. Clicking on the AirMule picture links to a downloadable movie. The movie shows an in-process test flight where the FCS (Flight Control System) is being adjusted for autonomous hovers, now for the first time with all six degrees of freedom (Pitch, Roll, Yaw, Altitude, X,Y Position) in "Attitude Hold" mode.

In parallel, the FCS is presently being transitioned into fully autonomous takeoffs and landings. As can be seen, we are still testing with loose tethers attached. This enables us to carry out these hover tests close to home while still complying with civil aviation and insurance flight clearance requirements. Our plan is to release the tethers only once we decide to begin translational flight, probably later this year.