Advance Aircraft gas-hybrid for endurance drone operations

Advance Aircraft Company’s gasoline-electric hybrid multirotor for endurance drone operations stays aloft up to eight times longer than conventional multirotors.

By DRONELIFE Staff Writer Jim Magill

A fledgling drone manufacturing company, led by a former NASA aeronautical engineer, recently announced the launch of its first commercial product, a multirotor unmanned aircraft whose gasoline-electric hybrid engine allows it to stay aloft up to eight times longer than conventional multirotor drones.

On August 4, Advance Aircraft Company (AAC), based Hampton, Virginia, unveiled its Hybrid Advanced Multirotor (HAMR) unmanned aircraft system. Key features of the drone are its high-performance gas-electric hybrid propulsion system and aerodynamic airframe design, which enable long-endurance drone operations, giving AAC’s customers a significant competitive advantage by doubling the productivity of their drone pilots, said the company’s founder and CEO Bill Fredericks.

“Our…