Possibly The First Drone-Jump In UAV History

Ya had to see it to believe it... and thankfully, there's some great video with which to accomplish this. An ingenius Latvian UAS operation has pulled yet another attention-gathering exercise in which a skydiver has used one of their massive 28 rotor multi-copters to pull off an eye-popping skydive.

On May 12, a 28-propeller drone built by Aerones lifted skydiver, Ingus Augstkalns, to a height of nearly 1100 feet, from where he accomplished the planned jump and landing under the parachute.

The company, Aerones, already having demonstrated a number of dramatic heavy lift missions and solutions, explained that this achievement, "shows the reliability and lifting-ability of the drone technology that approves unlimited possibilities for its use in saving people, fire-fighting, sports and entertainment."

Ingus Augstkalns, the skydiver who dreamed this up, also noted, "Emotions are fantastic. Both feeling how easily and quickly the drone lifted me, and because Latvia proves itself in innovations of technology. It is obvious that we will experience an increasingly important use of drone in our everyday life. Definitely also my friends skydivers all over the world will be excited about these new opportunities. We live in an exciting time."

Janis Putrams, Aerones' chief engineer, and the drone pilot on this mission, added, "Already in the near future, our technology will save human lives, will help to fight fires and carry out other challenging and significant work. With this project, we show that we are ready for serious tasks in the field of civil defence and sports."

The jump was accomplished in Mali, in rural Amata, Latvia, in cooperation with the State JSC Latvian State Radio and Television Centre, whose 400 foot communications tower served as an supplemental jump platform. In order to reduce potential risks, the drone took the jumper from the tower of about 400 feet (barely adequate for an emergency parachute deployment should there have been issues in reaching the assigned jump altitude) and then climbed to the release altitude intended for the release and jump.

Preparations occurred over the course of six months, at which time the payload of the drone was increased up to 200 kg and a number of tests were carried out, including flights with the jumper over the river Daugava.

Aerones is an innovative Latvian drone manufacturer focused on the development of drones with high-lift capabilities, while Ingus Augstkalns is an experienced skydiver and a wind tunnel flyer. He also is a co-founder of companies, AERODIUM Technologies, Cube and Captomatic.

ANN extends its congrats to all at Aerones for an exciting and dramatic effort that will further dramatize the incredible advancements being made with UAS platforms.

FMI: www.aerones.com