ApusDuo pseudo-satellite passes next flight tests

Alternative Unmanned Aerial SystemsApusDuo devices offered by UAVOS are intended for scientific research and rescue missions, broadcasting broadband Internet and radio communications to selected areas (a clear competitor of the Starlink system from Ilon Mask), as well as for video surveillance and terrain monitoring. Technically, the ApusDuo is a lightweight biplane capable of autonomously flying for quite a long time, thanks to its large-scale wing planning.

UAVOS developers from the USAqualified ApusDuo as a pseudo-satellite with a long flight duration. The first flight tests of the model on a reduced scale were carried out a year ago in October 2018. Then the prototype ApusDuo rose with a wingspan of 10 meters.

UAVOS research program is togradual increase in the size of the wings of the ApusDuo prototypes, up to bringing them to the level of the working apparatus with a span of 28 meters, capable of lifting up to 8 kg of payload.

In November 2019, UAVOS heldsuccessful flight tests of the next ApusDuo prototype with a wingspan of 14 meters. Compared with the previous model, the new aircraft received a lightweight design, an improved control system, and reduced power consumption. The designers also provided for the installation of ApusDuo on their own chassis, which allows for independent launch from the Earth by dialing the initial speed when driving along the highway or runway.

Structurally, ApusDuo is equipped with three fuselages anda pair of wings located in the bow and stern of the UAV. The front wing does not have a rigid mount with the hulls and receives a hinge mount, which allows, apparently, to perform the wing functions of elevators. The second wing is rigidly mounted above the vertical fins of the fuselages. Pusher propeller engines are attached to the keels. Autonomous energy supply ApusDuo is provided by solar panels located on the upper surface of both wings. The main part of the flight is planned to be carried out in planning mode with the engines turned off.