Unmanned hybrid-electric aircraft combining helicopter and rugged bush plane unveiled for cargo delivery
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Elroy Air, a startup in San Francisco, Calif., that seeks to make cargo deliveries using autonomous hybrid-electric aircraft, has unveiled its pre-production craft: the Chapparral. The Verge reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
3 Feb. 2022 -- Described by Elroy Air’s co-founder Clint Cope as “a hybrid between a rough-and-ready helicopter and a battle-hardened bush plane,” the Chaparral is an unmanned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) craft that switches between hovering using eight vertical fans and forward flight using four swiveling propellers.
A hybrid-electric powertrain gives it a range of as far as 300 miles and a cargo capacity of 300 to 500 pounds. Users load goods into an underslung pod that can be picked up and dropped off autonomously.
“The Chaparral will be a vital logistics link for people around the world with unreliable roadways and in remote and rural areas that take longer to reach today,” Cope says.
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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
