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What use have landing gears in flight? The answer to this question spawned the idea for our mobile runway system for UAV and light aircraft. In addition to the development of the mobile runway and complementary UAV applications, we offer consulting services in aircraft systems technology and automation technology.

What we do...

Benefits for your application

Mobile runway

Mobile and infrastructure-independent runways, e.g. drone ports for cargo drones, non-permanent logistics for disaster relief and crisis operations as well as access to hard-to-reach locations (islands, plateaus, etc.). Little to no impact on natural habitats means more freedom in choosing deployment sites.

Unlock automation

Full flight automation of highly efficient fixed-wing air vehicles. No need for staff at launch site means low cost as one operator or remote pilot is sufficient for several sites. Fast rensponse times lead to new market areas for fixed-wing aircraft.

Increase performance

Increased fixed-wing air vehicle performance. No need for landing gear directly reduces weight - even more when resizíng the air vehicle. Less weight is equivalent to more payload or longer endurance.

Low A/C requirements

Low operating requirements for the aircraft due to less mechanical stress on the airframe during take-off and high landing safety due to maintaining crab angle until touchdown. Assisted take-off and landing reduces power requirements for take-off and removes the demand for reversing thrust.

Use cases

Perfect technology for persistent surveillance, linear long / area large tasks and fast response capability. Examples are automated detection and fighting of forest fires, operations of authorities and organizations with security tasks, monitoring of network infrastructures, solar-powered electric aircraft, HAPS, in general for large wingspan aircraft.

News

🌍 Exploring Drone Opportunities in Tanzania & Rwanda: Strengthening Global Partnerships ✈️

Exciting days at the end of the year! We had the privilege of visiting Tanzania and Rwanda as part of German drone industry representatives, organized by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce for Eastern Africa (AHK Eastern Africa) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. This trip provided an invaluable opportunity to gain insights into countries, people & legislation and to connect with industry leaders, explore new drone technology applications, and strengthen our commitment to driving innovation.

A key highlight was our visit to Zipline, a leader in the use of small fixed-wing drones for logistics and healthcare delivery. As Zipline’s operations are already mature, their focus on using compact fixed-wing drones for remote deliveries offered valuable insights into scaling our own operations of larger fixed-wing drones. Their success in revolutionizing healthcare delivery in underserved areas was truly inspiring and aligns with our vision of using drone technology for impactful solutions, where even larger payloads, further distances and/or even higher automation rate is required.

In Tanzania, we were equally impressed by the government's focus on drones as a central part of their 5-year business development plan. This strategic initiative is set to unlock tremendous potential for drones in sectors like agriculture, logistics and healthcare.

Additionally, we had a great time with representatives from other Drone companies such as Aerodata AG, aeroDCS GmbH, CHARIS UAS, Dronesperhour, Germandrones GmbH, HHLA Sky GmbH and WINGCOPTER. The camaraderie and shared vision of the delegation were encouraging, and we look forward to future collaborations that will help propel the drone sector forward.

A big thank you to our hosts in Tanzania and Rwanda: Germany Trade & Invest, KfW, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, German embassies in Rwanda & Tanzania, Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority (RCAA), Tanzania Investment Centre, Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Innovation of Rwanda as well as to all the participants of the conferences and especially to those, who made this trip a success. We are excited to continue strengthening global partnerships and advancing the future of drone technology.

First Flight of Our Hydrogen-Fueled Drone!

After almost two years of hard work, innovation, and overcoming technical challenges, we are proud to unveil the maiden flight of our hydrogen-powered R3600 fixed-wing drone! This milestone marks a significant step forward in sustainable drone technology, but the journey to get here wasn't easy:

Swapping Out the Internal Combustion Engine: The challenge of transitioning from a gas-powered system to a fully electric powertrain was no small feat. From compatibility issues to weight, balance and efficiency concerns, we had to rethink and rebuild the entire drivetrain.
Electric Optimization: Before hydrogen could take center stage, we needed to refine the electric powertrain through rigorous testing using battery-powered flights. These tests helped us perfect performance, efficiency, and reliability while ensuring the system was ready to handle hydrogen fuel cells.
Hydrogen Integration: Finally, we adapted our drone to integrate a hydrogen fuel cell system—a cutting-edge power source that drastically increases flight time and reduces environmental impact. Among other changes, the airflow within the fuselage cooling the fuel cell needed to be optimized to sustain high-performance situations.

What’s next? With this success, we’re moving closer to a future of zero-emission drones capable of revolutionizing industries like logistics, surveying, and more. This will become even more impressive when paired with our ground-based launch and landing system.

All of this was only possible due to our collaboration with TECCON Consulting and Engineering GmbH, Thelsys and ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research in project H2finity, supported by IFB Hamburg.

Exhibitor at ILA 2024 - what a week!

We started on Monday by loading the ElektRail system and accessories in our trailer, then traveled to Berlin to set up our exhibition stand on Tuesday - and were ready for ILA Berlin - Pioneering Aerospace. From Wednesday to Friday, our days were filled with visits from industry experts and potential clients.

We had the honor of receiving State Secretary Andreas Rieckhof from the Hamburg Ministry of Economics and Innovation (BWI) together with Andreas Richter and Uwe Kleber on Thursday. In the evening, we attended the North German ILA-Evening Reception, organised by WFB Wirtschaftsförderung Bremen GmbH. Next to historical planes, we were able to chat with industry experts, e.g. from Leichtwerk AG, about the future of aviation.

Friday, a new generation of aviation enthusiasts visited us thanks to the Hamburg Aviation Young Professionals network, Ralf Gust and Jette Koch.

On the weekend, the general public showed up for the sold-out ILA. So many people came by to ask about our system and UAVs - we were completely overwhelmed.

It was nice to show the results of the recently completed ElektRail project together with Elektra Solar GmbH and Nordwig Maschinenbau GmbH & Co.KG. We had a good time thanks to Konstantin Kondak, Uwe Hartmann, Calin Gologan and Karsten Hoops. The H2finity UAV was also on display - thank you for stopping by to talk about next steps, Teccon Consulting and Engineering GmbH and ZAL Center of Applied Aeronautical Research.

Last but not least, we were grateful for the opportunity to be included in the Chalet East of the Northern German states, Niedersachsen Aviation and bavAIRia e.V.