With high probability we can say that the unmanned vehicles of the future. And if the car is already quite successfully ply the roads here, passenger aircraft are only at the beginning of his career. And one of the first who managed to successfully test an unmanned helicopter, were the experts of the world famous Airbus.
A prototype of the robot helicopter got the name VSR700 Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV). During your first flight VSR700 performed the takeoff, landing, hovering, flying horizontally, and, most important, movement on a given route. During the tests in the cockpit was the pilot who had the opportunity to seize control in the event of a failure of the device, but his intervention was not required. The car was developed by the company Airbus Helicopters together with their colleagues from Helicopteres Guimbal, which is also the manufacturer of helicopters Cabri G2 series, one of which formed the basis VSR700.
After a series of tests and design improvements it is expected that the final version VSR700 will be able to levitate a weight of 250 pounds, and a claimed flight time is 10 hours of continuous stay in the air without refueling. The first robotic helicopters will act as the tactical unmanned aircraft on ships. Due to the design of the helicopter, it will be possible to equip various types of sensors, naval and ground radar. In addition, it is expected that VSR700 Optionally Piloted Vehicle will be used for the transport of passengers as a quick and convenient means of transport.
Robot helicopter from Airbus made its first solo flight
Vladimir Kuznetsov