An innovative electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed in a cooperative Airbus Group effort has entered a new phase of flight testing, validating the concept’s ability to take-off, land and hover as a quadcopter, then fly with speeds of a fixed-wing aircraft.

The Quadcruiser made the first transition last week from VOTL (vertical takeoff and landing) and hover modes to vertical flight, validating its stability and controllability. The proof-of-concept Quadcruiser demonstrator was displayed in the Airbus Group Innovations section of the Airbus Group’s ILA Berlin Air Show exhibition pavilion.

Quadcruiser is a joint effort of Airbus Group Innovations – the research and development arm managed by the Airbus Group Corporate Technical Office, with the Airbus Defence and Space business unit. Also included in the project team is Steinbeis Flugzeug- und Leichtbau GmbH (SFL), which built the 10-kg class demonstrator aircraft displayed at ILA Berlin, and being used for the ongoing testing in Germany.

The Quadcruiser’s VTOL and hover flight is achieved with the four vertically-oriented electric lift motors, enabling it to perform like the well-known quadcopter-type remotelycontrolled vehicles. During transition to fixed-wing aircraft mode, Quadcruiser’s rear pusher propeller accelerates the aircraft until its wings provide sufficient lift. The lift motors are then stopped, and their propellers adjusted to a low-drag position. Before landing, Quadcruiser transitions back to the quadcopter mode using its four lift motors.

The application of electric motors – which are powered on the current Quadcruiser demonstrator by an 18.5 volt battery – benefitted from the growing expertise in e-aircraft and their systems at the Airbus Group Corporate Technical Office and Airbus Group Innovations.

The proof-of-concept Quadcruiser demonstrator is capable of up to 50 minutes of horizontal flight in the fixed-wing aircraft mode. This demonstrator vehicle represents a baseline for incremental developments that would see increases in size, complexity, level of autonomy and cost. Larger Quadcruiser versions could become hybrid aircraft, with an internal combustion engine incorporated to recharge the electric batteries for longer-duration flights.