Quadcopter Firefly with a range of up to 400 km (3 photos + video)

Drones-multicopters received a widedistribution and have already mastered many professions. The most significant drawback of such devices is too short autonomous flight time and low carrying capacity. The Firefly quadcopter is designed to overcome these shortcomings, it can fly for about two hours and carry up to 45 kg of payload.

Designed and manufactured quadrocopter Firefly(Firefly) by Parallel Flight Technologies of California. NASA, the Department of Agriculture and the US National Science Foundation participated in the work on the device.

For the flight of the Firefly quadrocopter,a hybrid power plant that drives four propellers with an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. For maneuvering and creating instant torque during takeoff and landing, an electric motor is used, and when switching to cruise mode, a gasoline engine is used. It is noteworthy that the failure of one of the four hybrid modules does not mean the crash of the drone - the aircraft will continue its journey on the remaining three propellers.

After a series of tests, the creators of Firefly announced,that a serial drone is able to stay in the air for up to 1 hour and 40 minutes and fly up to 200 km during this time. At the same time, Firefly carries a payload of up to 45 kg. If the weight of the cargo is reduced to 23 kg, then the flight range will increase to 400 km, and the flight time will increase to 3 hours and 20 minutes.

The Firefly aircraft is equipped with a GPS sensor,which will allow during operation to set a pre-designed route and carry out flights in automatic mode without involving a person. It is also possible to control the drone using a radio signal at a distance of up to 60 km.

The main activity for Firefly is calledparticipation in rescue expeditions to deliver food and medicine to areas of natural disasters. The company is currently raising funds to start mass production of drones powered by a hybrid engine.