FanWing demonstrated in flight over Farnborough a the 2010 airshow aerial display. Photo: Tamir Eshel
The FanWing STOL UAV technology demonstrator began flight testing in 2007. The FanWing concept uses a cross-flow fan along the span of each wing. The fan pulls the air in at the front and then expels it over the wing’s trailing edge. In transferring the work of the engine to the rotor, which spans the whole wing, the FanWing accelerates a large volume of air and achieves unusually high lift-efficiency.
A STOL surveillance UAV based on the flight demonstrator shown at Farnborough shows unusually short take-off ability, as it leavs the ground after rolling for only one to three meters. The short-take-off capabilities make the application useful for operations originating from a rooftop or short section of road. Such a vehicle could be developed as an urban surveillance UAV, that could fly slowly, manoeuvring through ‘urban canyons’, taking off and landing on rooftops, without using a catapult for takeoff or parachute for landing. An operational electrically powered FanWing UAV could weigh around 12 kg and carry 2kg of payload.
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