DENIS AVITECH has made 4 very successful test flights with the new DroneSOM drone last weekend.

The flights were made in Jylland at Lindtorp airfield where we both operated from the asphalt runway and from a small grass strip.

The purpose of these test flights was to gain the data needed to answer and document the questions forwarded to us.

The main focus was the following:

  • Flight endurance time (fuel consumption). Here we have the target at 1:00 hour. We were airborne 1:06 hour+ 4 x taxi time and when we landed, we had approx. 40% fuel remaining. This totals a minimum flight time of more than 1:30 at cruise power/speed with a safety factor of a minimum of 3 missed approaches/landing attempts. The target is hereby met with additional flight time and safety factors.
  • Take-off and landing with high take-off mass on the paved runway surface. We fueled the drone to 23,7 kg, checked the CG, and made a “medium power take-off” on the asphalt runway. The wind was 10 knots down the runway. The take-off and landing distance was less than 50 meters. The second take-off was performed with full engine power and the take-off distance was less than 30 meters.
  • The third test flight was focused on take-off and landing distances on the grass runway and the collection of cruise airspeed data. The drone wheels were changed from a narrow wheel width to larger and wider wheels for softer runway surfaces. The take-off and landing distances were at medium power approx. 50 meters in 15-20 knots headwind. The airspeed data received from our GPS tracker (Corrected for wind) was 75 Km/t. This speed will be the target cruise speed for the drone flying with the IMAR and fully fueled. The slowest ground speed recorded was 45 km/t into the wind.
  • The fourth test flight focused on maximum take-off performance on the grass runway and airspeed with full open throttle (engine at full power). The wind was still 15-20 knots headwind, and the take-off distance was 12 meters! The landing distance was 50 meters. The maximum airspeed was 130 km/t (corrected for wind). The maximum ground speed recorded was 180 km/t measured downwind (airspeed + tailwind) and the minimum was 107 km/t (airspeed + headwind) at full engine power.

The Drone is performing very well, even in windy conditions.