Easy to operate,

safe take-offs by Airbus Group

and landings
The proof-of-concept Quadcruiser performed its maiden flight
at the Grabenstetten special airfield near Stuttgart, Germany,
in December 2013, followed by testing at the Airbus Defence
and Space facility in Manching. The Quadcruiser project team
includes Steinbeis Flugzeug- und Leichtbau GmbH, who built
the 10 kg-class demonstrator aircraft.

Primary goals of the flight trials performed to date were to

test aircraft handling qualities under controlled conditions and
to demonstrate stability and controllability while hovering, as
well as low-speed flight in hover mode. Follow-on evaluations
concentrate on the transition from VTOL to horizontal flight.
The Quadcruiser aircraft now in flight test is capable of up to
50 minutes of horizontal flight in the fixed-wing aircraft mode.

Due to its capabilities for cruise and hover flight, it can

be operated in long range missions as well as in urban
environments. Future applications are seen in various
surveillance and reconnaissance missions for military as well as
civil customers like police, boarder patrols and fire brigades.

The concept is completely independent of any launch and

recovery systems like catapults, reducing the logistic footprint
and providing a safe and simplified operation during takeoffs
and landings.

The demonstrator vehicle represents a baseline for incremental

developments that could see increases in size, complexity and
level of autonomy. First flight of a 10-25 kg class Quadcruiser The Quadcruiser Demonstrator
is envisioned for 2015, followed by a 150 400 kg-class Technical Specifications
version in 2018-2019.
Maximum takeoff mass: 9.2 kg.
Wingspan: 1,50 m.
Airbus Group | BD&MA | 05/14 | EN | Airbus Group. All rights reserved.

Wing reference area: 0.531 m

Electrical motors: 5
Electrical motor power: 1.1 kW each
Diameter of propellers: 356 mm.
Battery package capacity: 10,000 mAh
Battery package voltage: 18.5 Volts

Airbus Group
Corporate Technical Office

81663 Munich
Germany
12 rue Pasteur
92152 Suresnes Cedex
France
Airbus Defence and Space
in cooperation with
Airbus Group Innovations
Quadcruiser
An Innovative Hybrid Aircraft Concept
The Quadcruiser concept evolved from a joint effort between
the Airbus Group Corporate Technical Office, and Airbus
Defence and Space. It has resulted in a rapid prototyping,
low-cost proof-of-concept activity addressing potential civil
and military applications around the world.
As a scalable unmanned aerial vehicle family, the Quadcruisers
hybrid concept combines the VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing)
and hover capabilities of the well-known quadcopter design with
the speed and cruise efficiency of a fixed-wing aircraft by using
an additional pusher motor.
The application of electric motors benefitted from the growing
expertise in electrical aircraft and their systems at Airbus Group
Innovations.
The Quadcruisers vertical flight is achieved with four vertically
oriented electric motors that drive the aircrafts lift propellers.
During transition to the fixed-wing aircraft mode, a pusher
propeller located at the rear accelerates the aircraft until its wings
provide sufficient lift. Subsequently, the lift motors are stopped
and their propellers adjusted to a low-drag position. Before
landing, the aircraft transitions back to the quadcopter mode
using its four lift motors, enabling a vertical landing.