A New Milestone reached in SVU-200 UAV helicopter Development.

Proof positive that by going off shore you can get more UA development work done than in the USA as a civilian.

Fetters AeroSpace LLc. is proud to announce that on September 4, 2012 at 10:30AM Beijing time in the city of Changsha China, the Fetters-designed SVU-200 UAV helicopter made its first fully autonomous flights.

The first fully autonomous flight consisted of; auto-takeoff, hover to 100 meters above ground level (AGL) and “hold-home” position, followed by a 30 meter sideways “slide-left”, then a 30 meter return “slide-right”, followed with a 50 meter “fly-forward”, and again a “fly-back” to home position, followed by a pinpoint perfectly performed auto-landing, while using GPS navigation throughout the flight. More flights were to follow within the same day to total about 2 hours.

Then on the following day at 7:00AM in the same location, the SVU-200 completed its first 4 kilometer long cross-country flight after flying to 4 separate predetermined way-points under full autonomous control using GPS navigation, and then successfully landing in the same exact spot where it took-off.

After a short systems check, the SVU-200 was refueled and again completed a second fully autonomous 5 kilometer long cross-country flight, only this time flying to 5 predetermined way-points at a modest airspeed during its initial testing period of 12 meters/second (43.2 km/hour). Both flights were performed flawlessly and performed exactly to the pre-planned missions.

“super-stable” controlling of the helicopter requiring only 1/10th of the amount of computer-stabilizing control inputs as with other large UAV helicopters. The SUV-200 has two internal payload bays, one in the nose and one in the rear of the aircraft, and is also equipped with hard-points and capable of hauling sling-loads, or carry an external cargo/payload pod, and even extended-range tanks with extra fuel for longer mission capabilities. The SVU-200 is powered by a Rotax 582 engine using the special Fetters-designed PEP (Power Enhancement Package) exhaust system, enabling the engines power to be increase from its normal 65 to 78 horsepower, and designed to be capable of lifting up to a 200kg maximum useful load and a top-speed up to 209 km/hr.

The SUV-200 is not an existing helicopter converted to a UAV, but was designed from the ground up as a “large helicopter made small”  and not a “small RC helicopter made big”, like most all other UAV helicopters to date. All parts were specifically designed and built for this project and are unique, using custom-made geared transmissions and tail-rotor drive shafts. Therefore the SVU-200 has the same construction as a full-size manned helicopter, along with the same reliability and longevity as a full-size manned helicopter. This detail to quality is due to the fact that today’s electronic payloads can easily be more valuable than the cost of the helicopter.

Mr. Fetters is one of the only people in the world that has successfully designed and manufactured both helicopters and gyroplanes, which places him in a unique category of designers. He has previously designing over 10 different helicopters and Gyroplanes when he owned his manufacturing businesses in the U.S.A., building over 1700 rotorcraft and shipping them world-wide. He is best known for the famed Air Command series of Gyroplanes manufactured in the 1980’s that revolutionized that industry, and also known for the Mini-500 single-seat helicopter he manufactured in the 1990’s.

Mr. Fetters now enjoys the rewards and liberties as a freelance designer and/or Project-Manager. Backed with a 25 year 100% success rate of rotorcraft designs that all successfully flow, Mr. Fetter and his team of highly-skilled design engineers are a rare group of people that are available to relocate anywhere world-wide within companies or organizations that have the desire to develop, build and manufacture their own manned or unmanned advanced rotorcraft technologies within a time and cost far less than they can do on their own.