The first manned flight of the Volocopter VC200 has taken place at an airfield near Karlsruhe in southern Germany. The multicopter has eighteen electrically driven propellers and a flight control system to coordinate them to enable flying. The Volocopter is designed to be easily flown either by remote control or an onboard pilot.
In February 2016, the Volocopter received a ‘permit-to-fly’ as an ultralight aircraft from German aviation authorities. This means e-volo, the German company behind the Volocopter, can now begin to conduct manned test flights. The prototype has already flown over 100 times under remote control. The first flight was piloted by e-volo managing director Alexander Zosel late last month.
The Volocopter has a single joystick and a comprehensive redundancy to compensate for any failure of critical components including that of several motors.
In the first test flight phase, a maximum speed of 25km/h maximum at low altitude is planned. In the second phase, flight maneuvers at 50km/h at medium altitude will be executed. Test flights within the third testing phase aim to validate the system at higher altitudes and in the VC200’s full speed range up to 100km/h.
Click here to see a video of the first Volocopter manned test flight.
April 22, 2016
