Transport UAV completes maiden flight

The large unmanned transport aircraft FP-981C is ready to fly. [Photo/WeChat account of Liangjiang New Area]

On Oct 22, Fonair UAS Technologies Co, based in Liangjiang New Area, Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, completed a short-haul logistics transportation test flight for a large vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

The large unmanned transport aircraft FP-981C carried goods and delivered them to Dengping village after a 15-minute trip.

Wang Renlong, deputy general manager of Fonair UAS, explained that the FP-981C is an unmanned electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) with a wingspan of 9 meters, a length of 5.5 m, a payload of 100 kilograms, and a range of 100 kilometers.

The UAV mainly relies on the upward thrust of eight propellers to take off. After stabilizing in the air, it relies on the thrust of the tail rotor to move forward, thus transitioning from vertical ascent or descent to horizontal flight.

 

A man operates the UAV from the ground. [Photo/WeChat account of Liangjiang New Area]

"This allows the UAV to take off without airport runways and meet the needs of freight logistics and emergency delivery in complex environments, making it suitable for Chongqing's terrain, which is dominated by mountains, hills, and rivers," said Wang.

In 2020, the company's another aircraft FH-98 completed cargo flights between Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. Last year, Fonair UAS obtained the world's first commercial trial operation license for a large logistics UAV issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Liangjiang has been leading the aerospace information industry in Chongqing, gradually forming an industrial layout consisting of satellite internet and applications, commercial aerospace, drones, aerospace power and key components, and general aviation.