Bell’s innovative VTOL cargo craft takes its first successful autonomous flight

Bell’s innovative VTOL cargo craft takes its first successful autonomous flight

5 years ago
Anonymous $4ckUSNo_FL

https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/26/bells-innovative-vtol-cargo-craft-takes-its-first-successful-autonomous-flight/

Bell Helicopter’s catchily-named Autonomous Pod Transport 70 (aka APT 70) has managed a major milestone, performing its first autonomous flight during a test at its Forth Worth providing ground. The aircraft is a small vertical take-off and landing craft that users four rotors to provide lift and propulsion once it’s in the air, and it’s a prototype for what Bell hopes will eventually be a small autonomous commercial cargo craft.

APT 70 has a max speed of over 100 mph, and can carry 70 lbs on board, which is good for a fair range of potential applications, including package delivery and even things like humanitarian and rescue missions. Because of the way it flies, switching from vertical to horizontal orientation for its rotors, it can fly much faster than traditional rotor-based aircraft given similar size and power constraints.