VIDEO: CLOSED WING AIRCRAFT GETS A DOWNSIZE FOR THE UAV MARKET!

VTOL Aerospace, formerly known as Elytrn AIrcraft has been developing a closed wing tilt-rotor aircraft that blends the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities o a helicopter with the range and efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft. The company has now revealed its latest line, a smaller unmanned version called a Converticopter.

The Converticopter is designed to tap into the growing unnamed aerial vehicle market, which is initially aimed at government or commercial organizations that are involved in activities such as search and rescue, border patrol or oil and gas inspections. 

The Converticopter has a wingspan of around 2.4m, which is larger than most commercially available quadcopters; such as the DJI Inspire 2. The craft's larger size and 20-Ah battery allow loitering flights of up to 1.5 hours, which can be extended to more than five hours with an electric hybrid power plant.

The design is demonstrated in the maiden flight of the Proto12 prototype shown below.