As 2019 gets underway, we wanted to provide an update as to where we are at with Vahana’s flight test campaign and what’s ahead. To date we’ve flown 50 full-scale test flights totaling over 5 flight hours (our subscale model has flown 1,277 test flights and over 51 flight hours!). More flights are planned through at least the first half of this year as the team studies and checks flight controls, navigation, failure detection and mitigation as well as noise during flight. Those flight tests continue to take place at the Pendleton UAS Range in Oregon.

Alpha Two on the Pendleton runway

It’s amazing to think that just over a year ago our first flight occurred. Now Vahana is moving farther, faster, and higher with flight times in excess of seven minutes and speeds in excess of 50 kts (~57 mph). In this mid-transition video you’ll also see the vehicle react to impulse inputs, a important test in which we see how the vehicle responds to certain roll, pitch, yaw, and thrust inputs to guide our flight controls development.

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We hope you enjoy this glimpse into our flight test progress! We look forward to sharing more exciting updates in the coming months.

- Zach Lovering