UAV Turbines program to lend engines for evaluation
UAV Turbines Inc. (UAVT) has recently demonstrated a new generation of gas turbine engines designed for Group 3 and Group 4 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, in a range from 30hp to 150hp.
“To speed the application of this new technology,” says Peter Bale, senior industry advisor to UAVT, “the company plans to produce fifteen engines in the 50hp class, and put them in the hands of selected major manufacturers of UAVs. Their feedback will provide specific information necessary to integrate engines with their airframes, and optimize operation.”
The company’s $20 million-plus investment in the program will enable rapid trials of the new systems without the complications of joint development. The engines are to be available for evaluation in about 24 months.
“These turbo-props burn almost any available heavy fuel, rather than aviation gas,” says Bale. “With a recuperation system that makes them as fuel efficient as the best piston engines, they are light and quiet, able to operate, start and restart, at greatly increased altitudes under Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC).”
The engines are said to be more reliable than engines currently in use, increasing mean time between overhaul by an order of magnitude over some systems currently in use.
