Different Names, Different Configurations Zee, One of two aircraft companies funded by Google founder and CEO Larry Page, has been a highly mysterious business. Its web pages mostly gave discrete job descriptions for those willing to sign up for a mostly undefined mission. Occasional glimpses of patent drawings, spy shots of a multi-rotor craft in Google’s Mountain View, California parking lot came into view, and later, in-flight shots of other, different looking craft came from Hollister, California. Kitty Hawk, the other company funded by Larry Page, seems to have subsumed Zee and produced a 12-rotor, single-propeller aerial taxi about the size of a Cessna 150, but capable of vertical takeoffs and landings and seamless transitions to forward flight. A white example has flown at Hollister airport and a yellow version at a field in New Zealand. An Almost Epic Journey The intellectual, physical and geographical journey of this craft is almost epic, and seems to have resulted in a 13-motored …
Oregon Helps Build and Will Test Fly Vahana
Oregon is a big player in drones and electric aviation, your editor just learned. Attending the first ever Drone Summit in Bend, Oregon recently, we found that Oregon has three of the seven unpiloted aerial vehicle test ranges in the United State. It has Boeing-backed Insitu, maker of the Scan Eagle long-range, long-endurance drone now being adapted to civilian uses. Portland has FlightHouse LLC, manufacturing the canard for Airbus A3’s Vahana project, and the flight vehicle will be tested at the Pendleton Test Range. SOAR Oregon sponsored the event, which included speakers, ample networking time, and multiple revelations of the size and scope of drone activity in the state. Their mission statement is short and sweet. “SOAR Oregon is a statewide, not for profit Economic Development organization focused on the development of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) industry in Oregon. “SOAR Oregon’s mission is to foster growth in this rapidly evolving industry, connecting diverse industry sectors such as aviation, advanced …