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Volocopter’s 4-Seater Aircraft Takes First Flight
2022-06-08

German startup Volocopter announced that its four-seat electric aircraft VoloConnect made its first successful flight in May 2022. The vehicle concept spent 2 minutes and 14 seconds in the air. The prototype has all the planned aerodynamic and tactical-technical characteristics of the future commercial product.
VoloConnect is Volocopter's third product, which has the resource to travel longer and faster than any of the startup's other aircraft. It is capable of traveling nearly 100 kilometers at 250 kilometers per hour. Volocopter introduced the plane last May. The company positions it as an air cab.
VoloConnect will enter service in 2026, and the commercial launch of the startup's previous electric plane, VoloCity, will take place in 2024.
Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter notes that having an entire family of electric aircraft is a groundbreaking approach. He says the company's industry leadership is due to the fulfillment of its announced plans.
Volocopter chief engineer Sebastian Mores said the company will test new technology for further implementation during the overall development of the program.
Volocopter has developed the VoloConnect and its other eVTOLs (vertical takeoff and landing electric aircraft) to meet European Aviation Safety Agency standards. The VoloConnect prototype made its maiden flight after 17 months of development, the aircraft was first unveiled last May.
The VoloConnect is equipped with six rotors for vertical takeoff and two electric fans combined with wings that allow it to gain high speed. The prototype is currently undergoing a series of challenging flight tests.
Volocopter has also developed the VoloDrone, a drone that can carry loads of up to 200 kg and travel 40 km. The company promotes the device for delivery, rescue, construction and forestry.
VoloCity and VoloConnect are designed to transport people, they have technological differences. The VoloCity air cab is smaller and will be used to serve inner-city routes, while the more massive VoloConnect will be used for longer city or suburban flights. In addition, the VoloCity is two-seater and is capable of flying 35 km.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are urgently replacing American M777 howitzers with Soviet ones due to Lancet drones in the Kupyansk direction, the media reported.
The KUB-E guided munition complex has received export approvals, which makes it possible to promote this product abroad.
It also includes Maksim Oreshkin, the Presidential aide on economic issues, Alexander Beglov, the Governor of St. Petersburg, and others
The Special Military Operation in Ukraine was the first use of many types of Russian weapons and military equipment.
A team of researchers in northwest China says it has developed a way to use high-energy laser beams, not to destroy drones but to keep them in the air “forever”.
Using a combination of drones and machine learning techniques, researchers from The Ohio State University have recently developed a novel method for determining crop health and used it to create a new tool that may aid future farmers.
The Biryuch Innovation Center conducted successful flight tests of the prototype of a new model of unmanned aerial vehicle - a cargo drone. The drone is supposed to be used in emergency situations to deliver cargoes and evacuate victims.
In the nearest future an experiment on implementation of unmanned aircraft systems will start in five regions of Russia. Resolutions to this effect were signed by the Chairman of the Government Mikhail Mishustin.
RN-Purneftegaz, which is part of Rosneft's oil and gas production complex, is increasing overflights of production facilities and pipelines using Russian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in 2022. The number of aerial monitoring routes increased from 8 to 17, monthly kilometers increased to 6,700 km.
Reports

The drone market has grown steadily and continuously over the past several years. The technology is here to stay and is becoming more prevalent across numerous industries. But 2020 was a unique year due to Covid-19. Overall, respondents even felt that the changes in business models triggered by the lockdowns would actually have a positive impact on the drone industry in the long run.