Frankfurt-based Wingcopter, a startup that develops and sells transport drones for humanitarian and civil applications, announced on Thursday that it has partnered up with ZAL, Hamburg’s Center of Applied Aeronautical Research.
Founded in 2009, ZAL Center for Applied Aeronautical Research in Hamburg is the technological research and development network of the civil aviation industry in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region.
It serves as a bridge between academic and research organisations, the aviation industry, and the City of Hamburg, to maintain and expand Hamburg’s position as the third-largest civil aviation site in the world.
ZAL’s focus is on the industrialisation and integration of aircraft technologies. To do this, ZAL networks industry and science, fostering an innovation culture that is application-focused and providing its collaborators with the latest facilities for research and development.
Aim of the partnership
Both companies want to explore how green hydrogen, which is already entirely electronic, can power Wingcopter’s drones and create a renewable hydrogen-based propulsion system.
Later, Wingcopter will manufacture the propulsion device and incorporate it into its transportation drones.
The Wingcopter 198 will be upgraded to operate on hydrogen to make it more powerful and maintain its emission-free flight capabilities in the future.
With the additional lift provided by its wings and its aerodynamic design, the Wingcopter already outperforms the majority of rival versions in terms of range and speed.
Hydrogen propulsion, however, might ensure even extended flight periods and allow greater distances for various delivery uses.
Tom Plümmer, co-founder of Wingcopter, says, “We have always wanted the Wingcopter to be able to fly even further. However, we categorically ruled out the installation of a conventional combustion engine right from the start with a view to the environment and climate change.”
“We are happy to now explore technical possibilities in the field of hydrogen propulsion together with the ZAL experts and then put the best concept into practice.”
ZAL engineers, in the past, have successfully flown its own ZALbatros hydrogen drone for more than two hours. Compressed atmospheric hydrogen in combination with a fuel cell was used to accomplish this. The Wingcopter will also employ a similar technology.
The project-related modification of the Wingcopter will take place at ZAL‘s Fuel Cell Lab in Hamburg.
Roland Gerhards, CEO of ZAL, says, “Our mission is to bring hydrogen into the air and create innovative solutions for sustainable aviation. With Wingcopter as our partner, we’re not only impressed by their drones’ flight performance, but also by their clear vision of how urban air mobility and especially drone delivery can help improve people’s lives.”
“With our expertise, we want to convert the Wingcopter to hydrogen and thus strengthen the Hamburg UAM network Windrove with another flagship project.”
About Wingcopter
Launched in 2017 by Tom Plümmer, Jonathan Hesselbarth and Ansgar Kadura, Wingcopter is a developer, manufacturer, and operator of an unmanned eVTOL, fixed-wing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and provider of drone delivery services.
The company is focused on optimising medical supply chains, as well as last-mile logistics of packages, tools, spare parts, food, and groceries.
The Wingcopter 198 can take off and land vertically like a multi-copter, while flying long distances as effectively and rapidly as a fixed-wing aircraft, even in rain and severe winds. This is because of its proprietary tilt-rotor mechanism and software algorithms.
The company says, “Taking off and landing vertically like multi-copters, Wingcopters fly long distances as efficiently and quickly as fixed-wing aircraft, reaching ranges of up to 75 miles (120 kilometres) and a Guinness world record speed of 150 mph (240 km/h).”
“Even in strong winds of up to 44 mph (70 km/h) or inclement weather, Wingcopters fly autonomously and reliably.”
The drones are also used for the efficient inspection of public infrastructure and for long-range mapping applications.
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