AWST Ares Blog: New Ways To Fly by Bill Sweetman

New at AUVSI was a variation on the quadcopter from Latitude Engineering of Tucson – the hybrid quadrotor, or possibly octorotor. A piston engine drives a generator, turning four electrically powered rotors (on the prototype). The next generation vehicle, weighing 60 lb, will have eight lift rotors installed in pairs, above and below the booms. Latitude says that three of the latter vehicles have been ordered by Naval Air Systems Command for a test program.