Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Drones are quickly becoming commonplace in both military and commercial environments. The challenges for airframe providers in this market are size, weight, and power. Several applications, such as medical delivery in remote areas, require longer flight times, while many applications simply require more power for onboard payloads. In addition, applications like pipeline inspection, bridge evaluation, and surveillance, requiring camera gear, have particular sensitivities to vibrations. Batteries alone have limited range. Internal combustion engines provide reasonable range but come with vibration and overhaul penalties.