14 DAY TRIAL // We have been covering plenty of drones lately, from the crash-proof Gimball to the sophisticated Zano. Many of them can take off and land from a stationary position, but that's usually because they use the same principles as helicopters.
There's nothing wrong with that approach of course, but it does limit the top speed by a fair bit compared to a plane-like configuration.
Plane-like unmanned aerial vehicles also tend to have a wider ranger, something that ties into their greater max speed. After all, the quicker they can travel, the wider the area they can cover.
We just received a heads-up about one such aerial drone that will soon be put up for crowdfunding on Kickstarter: the SkyProwler.
The SkyProwler miniature UAV
The story of the SkyProwler actually started back in 2014, when the people at Krossblade Aerospace Systems were finishing up the SkyCruiser.
SkyCruiser is a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing vehicle) that can carry 5 people by air at a speed of 300 mph / 500 kph. It is also a transformer, of sorts.
The SkyCruiser has since become a basis for further research and development into aircraft, hence the SkyProwler's ability to take off and land vertically almost anywhere.
From what we can see in the video, the drone cannot land on water, but it should not be too hard to replace the ground landing train with a buoyant one.
The SkyProwler is colored black, which suggests a good camouflage during the night. Perhaps so that it can play the scout in contested zones and such.
Not that building one colored white, green or pink with yellow polka dots would be that hard. Paint is easy enough to add after all.
Availability
There is no way to tell for certain when sales of the SkyProwler will begin, since there is no guarantee that the project will even get off the ground. The Kickstarter campaign will determine that.
We have a good feeling though, especially given the videos embedded below. We'll get back to you with details when we have them.
