Interestingengineering.com reported that in April, Florida-based Undefined Technologies unveiled its silent (or at least relatively quiet) eVTOL drone, Silent Ventus. The drone is powered by ion propulsion. “Silent Ventus is a vivid example of our intent of creating a sustainable, progressive, and less-noisy urban environment,” said Tomas Pribanic, Founder and CEO of Undefined Technologies, in […]

At Xponential, DroneTech UAV was showing off its latest creation: the Pelican, a fixed-wing platform with an optional vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability intended to provide for payload delivery in the maritime environment. With a 12-foot wingspan and a maximum take-off weight of 90 pounds, the Pelican can deliver a 10-pound package to the […]

It sounds like a riddle: How do you fit an entire airplane with a seven-foot wingspan inside a backpack? If I were to answer that question for myself, it would be something like, “Make sure you don’t miss any pieces after the crash.” However, the enterprising folks at WingXpand (prounounced like “wingspanned”) have an entirely […]

In the fifteenth century, artist and engineer Leonardo da Vinci envisioned a craft that flew using a single helix-shaped propeller — the aerial screw — viewed by many as the first vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) machine ever designed. In 2020, the Vertical Flight Society’s (VFS) 37th Annual Student Design Competition challenged students from across […]