
Elroy Air’s autonomous hybrid aircraft can pick up cargo containers on its own - prostoalex
https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/18/elroy-airs-autonomous-hybrid-aircraft-can-now-pick-up-cargo-containers-on-its-own/
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Skunkleton
I was expecting the attached video to actually demonstrate VTOL with self-
attached cargo. It does not. It doesn't really demonstrate anything other than
(unstable looking) low altitude cargoless flight, and a cargo self-loading
mechanism. In the previous TC article, it states that the drone is actually
manually piloted as well. How far along is this project really?

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siod
It seems pretty disingenuous to show two totally different models in the same
video like this, the model that gets airborne doesn't have a back prop/shaft
nor is it carrying a cargo container.

No one expects a prototype to carry the full load, but it looks like it can't
even get itself airborne at this stage...

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bahador
Not intermodal containers.

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Animats
Right. Only their special 300lb pods.

It takes off vertically on electric props and transitions to horizontal winged
flight driven by a fuel-powered prop. That's how they get reasonable range.
Several other big drones use that approach, and it seems to work.

We may see full-sized aircraft which work like that. NASA has been fooling
around with electric VTOL takeoff and transition to winged horizontal flight.
Most aircraft which do that transition are mechanical nightmares, like the
Osprey. It's starting to look like having a separate VTOL electrical
propulsion system can compete with mechanical transition VTOL. It's certainly
simpler.

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redis_mlc
If I was offered a free ride on an Osprey, I'd laugh, then run away as fast as
I could.

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burfog
In the most reasonable civilian use, you couldn't run away. It wouldn't be
free either, but it might be covered by health insurance.

The V-22 Osprey is ideal for getting you to a trauma center. It could pick you
up from the highway, just like a helicopter, but then it has the speed and
range to get you where you need to be before it is too late.

