Designed For Sustained Aerial Presence In Adverse Conditions

A California-based startup company plans to introduce a new,  long-range, high-endurance, vertical take-off aircraft, designed and manufactured in the U.S.

FlightWave Aerospace Systems says that the aircraft is designed to bring new capabilities to customers who need a sustained aerial presence in high-wind, maritime, or terrestrial missions. The company also announced an investment from Breakout Labs, the Thiel Foundation’s program of support for deep technology companies.

FlightWave’s premier product, the FlightWave Edge Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), requires no nets, no catapults, and no cumbersome ground equipment, according to the company. The Edge’s quick, tool-free assembly, payload swapping, and click-to-fly touchscreen tablet controller mean users are flying, vertically or horizontally, in a few minutes.

Other features include:

• Autonomy: Easy-to-use, automated flight planning with touchscreen controller for most applications with manual piloting available for pros who want it.
• Great Endurance: Enjoy two+ hours continuous flight time in cruise and up to 100 km range per charge.
• All-weather: Weather resistant and wind rejection up to 40 knots means very few days on the ground.
• Versatile: Transform from tri-copter to forward flight automatically in seconds.
• Swappable Payloads: Easily integrate standard or custom payloads, thanks to the swappable twist-lock payload bay.
• Portability: The Edge quickly breaks down for stowing and transporting in its case to go anywhere.
• Sustainable: The Edge is all-electric, highly efficient, and optionally leverages solar power for increased range and endurance.

FlightWave says it is dedicated to offering cost-effective ways for government agencies, private companies, or non-profit organizations to protect assets or monitor the environment. The first hundred customers to order the Limited Edition FlightWave Edge UAS will receive a $2,500 discount. Customers are able to reserve the aircraft with a fully-refundable $1,000 deposit with an expected delivery in the first quarter of next year.

“We’re in the UAS business to make a difference,” said FlightWave CMO Edmund Cronin. “The Edge is a serious tool for challenging missions that require long range, long endurance, and all-environment reliability. This aircraft is no toy. It provides budget-sensitive capabilities that enable customers to achieve their mission for less money. The Edge is ideal for mapping, remote patrol and surveillance, ecosystem monitoring, and other scenarios calling for affordable, long-range eyes in the sky.”

FlightWave invites partners and customers to get their own vision in the air quickly and easily by participating in the company’s Payload Partner Program — an initiative to open-source an integration kit for the Edge’s payload/nosecone.
“The Edge isn’t just a drone: it’s an airborne development platform. FlightWave is the only company with an open-source platform to integrate new sensors,” said Cronin. “Some clients will design something so personally suited, so unique, that we may only make it once. Other designs will excite the whole marketplace and, once certified, will be made publicly available in our store. We know we’ll be surprised — and likely inspired — by what new sensors our partners design to fly”.

The Edge will make its debut September 6–8, 2017, at InterDrone in Las Vegas.

(Image from video included with FlightWave news release)

FMI: flightwave.aero