Air Vehicle-2A Logs Successful Maiden Flight

Indiana Unmanned Aircraft Systems, a Muncie, Indiana aerospace company announced the successful maiden flight

Im VII AV-2A

of its Im VII Air Vehicle 2A  (AV-2A) unmanned aircraft system.  ”Air Vehicle 2A took to the air this afternoon and flew a 30 minute sortie consisting of basic maneuvers and stall sequences.  The aircraft performed better than anticipated with more than 2 hours of battery power in reserve, ” said Jeff Imel, designer of the Im VII unmanned aircraft system.

 

Following a four week flight test program, Av-2A will be outfitted with hyperspectral cameras and fly remote sensing missions during the 2009 growing season.  The aerial images supplied by the Im VII will allow growers to evaluate and track crop health, enable them to make accurate input decisions and reduce nitrogen runoff.

New Skin for the Im VII

The Im VII now features a new skin system that increases airframe resisliancy beyond customer specifications.  ”While the base Im VII is built using light-weight, energy dissipating materials we wished to further extend the lifespan of the airframe though the addition of a tough skin system.  The system not only repels damage, it also adds additional lateral strength to the entire airframe.”  The Im VII is currently one-third through its flight testing program.

 

New skin system featured on the Im VII.

Two Hour Endurance Target Hit

AV-2 in Flight

On a battery that yielded less than one hour of flight time on the Im VII prototype air vehicle, AV-2 squeezed over two hours of flight time out of the same battery.  “AV-2 flew a beautiful sortie today and exceeded all of my expectations,” said Jeff Imel, designer of the Im VII.  “We kept flying until the flight computer warned us of a low battery state and that took over two hours.” 

The Im VII has been designed specifically for precision agriculture remote sensing applications.  The characteristics that make the Im VII the choice airborne sensor platform for agriculture has also generated demand from organizations performing atmospheric and geological research.

Flight Test Card: Endurance

Air Vehicle 2 (AV-2) enters the flight endurance portion of its six week flight testing program today.  AV-2 will be flying at maximum payload weight using a variety of power systems over the next four days, weather permitting.  Previous testing using the now retired prototype (AV-P) yielded flight times of over two hours.  Standard payload for most spectral remote sensing operations include a hyperspectral sensor that measures crop canopy reflectance at narrow wavebands.