Boeing A160T Hummingbird UAV crashes

Boeing has suspended flights of its long-endurance unmanned helicopter A160 Hummingbird after it crashed (again !) on 10th December at Victorville in California. The cause of the crash is not known - the Hummingbird has a long and respectable history of crashes

The turbine-powered (Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207 turboshaft.) A160T,(unlike the Subaru gas engined previous versions) vehicle A008, was flying at 5,000ft (1,500m) above mean sea level - about 2,300ft above the ground - before it crashed and was destroyed, the company says.

A Boeing-led accident investigation team is being formed and flight operations have been suspended until the cause of the crash has been determined. The vehicle was one of three A160s on flight status at Victorville, says Boeing.

If they can get the thing to stop crashing the Hummingbird offers an atractive UAV package The A160 is an unmanned helicopter, with hingeless fixed rotor blades 36 feet diameter is 35 feet long and designed to fly 2,500 nautical miles with endurance in excess of 24 hours and a payload of more than 300 pounds an estimated top speed of 140 knots at ceilings of up to 30,000 feet.

A unique feature in autogyro design allows it to slow rotor speed by 50% to lengthen endurance.