UAVs these days all look alike. However, the UAV prototype designed by a French company FLY-R uses a unique diamond wing design, claiming to bring some obvious advantages.
On the latest show, R2-150 prototype is formed by a pair of front wings set at the lower and a pair of rear wings set at the higher. The front wings sweep backward while the rear wings sweep forward and tilt downward, therefore, they are connected to the front wing at the tip of the plane, which is almost a biplane, but the upper wing and the two ends of the floor limb are pinched together.
Headquartered in the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean FLY-R, the company said that this diamond design is superior to the traditional wing in many aspects. First of all, the wingspan is reduced by about half, and the aerodynamic resistance is also reduced. In addition, the structural mass is reduced by about one third, and the aircraft remains stable at a wide range of speeds and has high mobility.
At present, battery-powered R2-150 is designed for completely independent monitoring, observation, reconnaissance and other tasks. It has a wingspan of 1.5 meters (4.9 feet), a cruising speed of 115 km/h (71 mph), and can fly for 2 hours per charge-transmitting real-time video while flying.
Other models are designed to go further, carry heavier payloads, and fly faster. For example, the maximum speed of the jet-powered R2-HSTD plan is 0.65 Mach (803 km/h or 499 mph). Its purpose is to serve as a target UAV for military exercises.
FLY-R even plans to develop a medium-and short-range passenger plane named Crystal CR-1200. FLY-R Crystal CR-1200 should be able to carry items weighing up to 800 kilograms (1764 pounds). The aircraft can accommodate two pilots and eight passengers (although other configurations may be adopted), and it will adopt a hybrid power system, in which the generator burning fuel will charge the onboard battery pack, the battery pack will power the motors of the two backward propellers. At its cruising speed of 350 km/h (217 mph), it can travel more than 1,000km (621 miles) without refueling. — If it does not carry the maximum possible load, this number will increase.
