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Below you can download previous versions of our newsletters

 

• UAVE - December 2021 Newsletter
• UAVE - June 2021 Newsletter

• UAVE - October 2020 Newsletter
• UAVE - August 2020 Newsletter
• UAVE - June 2020 Newsletter
• UAVE - April 2020 Newsletter
• UAVE - January 2020 Newsletter

• UAVE - December 2019 Newsletter
• UAVE - November 2019 Newsletter
• UAVE - July 2019 Newsletter
• UAVE - May 2019 Newsletter

• UAVE - September 2018 Newsletter
• UAVE - July 2018 Newsletter
• UAVE - July 2018 Newsletter (Annual Demo Day)
• UAVE - May 2018 Newsletter
• UAVE - Feberuary 2018 Newsletter

• UAVE - November 2017 Newsletter
• UAVE - September 2017 Newsletter
• UAVE - August 2017 Newsletter / OPEN DAY INVITE
• UAVE - July 2017 Newsletter
• UAVE - June 2017 Newsletter
• UAVE - April 2017 Newsletter
• UAVE - February 2017 Newsletter

• UAVE - December 2016 Newsletter
• UAVE - November 2016 Newsletter
• UAVE - October 2016 Newsletter
• UAVE - August 2016 Newsletter
• UAVE - June 2016 Newsletter
• UAVE - May 2016 Newsletter

 

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NEWS

• October 2024 - Engine Parts Cerakoted
• March 2023 – UAVE Limited and BCB International Limited commence a 3 year sales and marketing agreement.
• March 2022 - UAV Magnetic Compensation Results
• February 2021- Dragon D15 spotted on Salisbury Plain
• January 2021 - Trade Announcement
• October 2020 – Dragon D15 Official Launch
• August 2020 – Aerogravity Firsts
• April 2020 – Unit 7 - Parc Aberporth
• August 2019 – Aircraft Shipping
• May 2018 - UAVE takes part in special event to test the use of drones in real-life search and rescue activity
• August 2017 – Prion Mk3 LiDAR Survey Flight at 43.7 kg
• May 2016 – Building new aircraft
• April 2016 – New contract award by British Antarctic Survey
• February 2016 – Demonstration flights at Bourn Airfield
• January 2016 – Transporting the Prion Mk3
• December 2015 – Relocation of Manufacturing Facility to New Workshop
• November 2015 – Pilot Training Facility now available

October 2024- Engine Parts Cerakoted

 

 

10th March 2022 - UAV Magnetic Compensation Results

UAVE have, today, published a technical short note detailing Magnetic Compensation Results for our Prion Mk3 Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The flight was undertaken in December 2021 at West Wales Airport, UK. The conclusion states “A successful magnetic compensation flight has been conducted with the Prion airborne platform using the MFAM sensor manufactured by Geometrics. The results of this work show this to be a viable platform for airborne magnetic survey.”

Our thanks go to the UAVE technical integration team, the UAVE flight team and the independent 3rd party authors.

The full .pdf is available here

 

 

February 2021- Dragon D15 spotted on Salisbury Plain.

UAVE and RATDU of the UK MoD completed the initial trials of the Dragon D15 variant of the Prion Mk3 at Salisbury Plain Training Area during February 2021. A video sequence of the aircraft and payloads fitted for the purpose of the AWE20 event are available at the link below –

 

 

26 January 2021 - TRADE ANNOUNCEMENT

UAVE Limited and Australian UAV Technologies entered in to a collaboration agreement on 1st January 2021. Based in the UK and Australia respectively the agreement establishes representation and product promotion spanning UK/Europe and Australasia and extends client and operational support functions throughout more time zones.

Australian UAV Technologies Pty Ltd (Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia) and UAVE Limited (United Kingdom) have entered in to an initial 12 month Collaboration Agreement in order to provide reciprocal business and operational support in their respective geographies of Australasia and UK / Europe. Phillip Slater MD UAVE Limited commented “Australasia represents a growing market place for fixed wing UAV platforms of all sizes. Collaborating in this way enables client requirements on opposite sides of the globe to be supported. By avoiding replicating competence shared in common between our two companies we eliminate any time lag that is otherwise inevitable when establishing a new overseas presence and eliminate Covid type contractual risk in relation to current or future personnel travel restrictions.”

Gerry Gerlach, CEO Australian UAV Technologies supported this advantage whilst also recognising the value in new and emerging markets of getting the product solution exactly right for the clients intended and actual outcomes.  This is impacted not just by the choice of Remotely Piloted Airframe, but the suppliers ability to integrate sophisticated sensors and operational processes that can exceed the expectations of the Air Traffic regulators, particularly in obtaining approval for beyond visual flight scenarios. Both companies have received approval to conduct BVLOS flights with their RPAS.

 

 

October 2020 – Dragon D15 Official Launch

The Dragon D15 has hatched. Presented in October to the UK MoD at the Army Warfighting Experiment 2020 (AWE20) distinguished visitor event, the D15 was inspected for the first time by the UK MoD at Westdown Camp, Salisbury Plain by representatives from the Royal Artillery, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Royal Marines, Defence and Security Accelerator, RAF and delegates from the MoD Abbeywood procurement facility.

The D15 variant of the Prion Mk3 was built specifically for the MoD under the guidance of the Royal Artillery Trial and Development Unit (RATDU). As a versatile aerial utility vehicle the D15 is equipped with a surveillance camera, telecommunication rebroadcast facility, signals intelligence monitor, a package delivery system and a new 12 litre fuel tank. Three aircraft were presented which can be rail launched or use a wheeled undercarriage.

The D15 boasts a host of upgrades:

• The new avionics cassette provides ground station operator control of on-board payload and systems via companion computers.
• The fuel tank size is increased from 6 litres to 12 litres.
• Fuselage assembly has been simplified.
• Strengthening to increase the service life of the aircraft.
• Video streaming to the ground station and aerial telecommunications rebroadcast hub.

Avionics cassette condenses the footprint of all on board systems to preserve the maximum available space for payload. Dragon D15 aerial utility vehicle.

A closer inspection of the D15 is provided at the video link given below –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOrpLVUvZ2U&feature=youtu.be

 

 

August 2020 – Aerogravity Firsts

In November 2019 we flew a global first for fixed wing UAV acquisition of onshore aerogravity data. On 24th August 2020 we extended this work to the offshore sector of the Cardigan Bay Danger Area.

The purpose of the exercise was to fly the iMAR iCORUS microgravity meter to a location in Cardigan Bay with a subsurface geology that is known to provide a gravity gradient from the onshore to the offshore location. The Prion Mk3 was equipped with the device and flown to a location 54.5 Km offshore with command and control being provided across the aircraft Iridium satellite link and location being independently tracked by a Radar Service. The work is a multinational collaborative effort including our sponsors BP (UK) and New Resolution Geophysics (S Africa) plus Danish Technology University and iMAR (Germany) the gravity instrument manufacturer.

 

 

April 2020 – Unit 7 - Parc Aberporth

Client invitation demonstration flights in prior years have had the benefit of our use of Unit 7 located at Parc Aberporth. With offices, laboratories and fabrication suites in addition to the hangar providing direct access to the runway apron this facility is ideally suited to our business requirements and expansion. We have therefore opted to move premises to this new larger facility. A letter will be sent out to clients in due course informing the move date, however we have already taken possession of the facility and aim to migrate our training, manufacturing and operations activity to this new location during the next 60 days. Keep an eye on our social media posts to see how the fit out of this facility progresses.

Front door to Unit 7.

Hangar doors providing direct access to the runway apron.

Inside Unit 7 (behind hangar doors).

New delivery and visiting address UAVE Limited, Unit 7, West Wales Airfield, Aberporth Technology Park, Ceredigion, SA43 2DZ, Wales
Switchboard phone number remains unchanged as +44 (0)1545 561111

 

 

August 2019 – Aircraft Shipping

Three Prion Mk3 UAS and operational spares were shipped to Denmark this summer. Two Prion Mk3 are intended to have long term operations base at Odense in Denmark, the third will be used principally at Villum Research Station in NE Greenland. The picture below shows the aircraft just prior to leaving our factory.

 

 

May 2018 – UAVE takes part in special event to test the use of drones in real-life search and rescue activity

UAVE Limited has supported a special week-long event run by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) to test the use of drones.

From Monday 23 April to Friday 27 April along a stretch of South Wales coastline, a selection of drones were used in four different search and rescue scenarios to explore how they could be used to help save lives in the future.

The scenarios tested were a shoreline search for a casualty, an offshore search for multiple casualties in the sea, a mud rescue and a communications relay where a drone is required to relay information between rescue teams and a casualty on a cliff.

During the event, there was a particular focus on seeing how drones could work together with existing search and rescue teams and assets to enhance lifesaving capability and reduce risk to rescue teams, with RNLI lifeboats and HM Coastguard Rescue Teams featuring in the event’s scenarios.

UAVE Limited supported the event by completing a demonstration flight using BVLOS from St Athan with the impressive Prion Mk3. The Prion Mk3 payload can be modified with specialist equipment to carry out the necessary tasks. For search and rescue missions we integrated the UAV Vision’s CM100. We completed a demonstration flight using BVLOS from St Athan.

Kyly Phillips from UAVE Limited said: ‘This has been a fantastic event to be a part of. During the lead up to this event we flew the Prion Mk3 out to Cardigan Bay from West Wales Airfield to gain familiarity with the task ahead. It was great to work alongside the RNLI and MCA teams and prepare the Prion Mk3 for its first search and rescue mission. As a conclusion from this event we believe that the Prion Mk3 would be a huge aid in the search and rescue field, reducing the time it would usually take to identify someone stranded in the sea and relay in real time the exact co-ordinates to the rescue boat.’

Hannah Nobbs, from the RNLI’s Innovation Team, said: ‘The aim of this event was to provide realistic scenarios and an authentic operating environment to explore the use of drones in multi-agency operations.

‘This week-long test event is the culmination of around two years of work, where we’ve explored the use of drones in collaboration with key search and rescue partners and industry experts. I’d like to thank all of the industry partners that have supported our work to explore the use of drones in search and rescue activity so far. Their expert input has been extremely valuable.’

Phil Hanson, Aviation Technical Assurance Manager at the MCA, said: ‘The MCA is always ready to embrace working with new technology – especially if that technology could enhance search and rescue efficiency, save more lives and reduce risk to our personnel.’

A variety of drones were used in the scenarios during the event, including rotary platforms that offer stability for electro-optic and thermal sensor payloads, a tethered drone and fixed wing platforms that are runway or catapult launched.

The vast amount of information and insights gained from this week-long test event will now be evaluated by the RNLI and the MCA to help assess how drones could be used in search and rescue activity in the future.

 

 

August 2017 – Prion Mk3 LiDAR Survey Flight at 43.7 kg

The Prion Mk3 airframe has a theoretical lift capacity for the wing of 50Kg. Wing lift forces are derived from the differential pressures of the air passing over the lower and upper surfaces of the wing. Put simply in order to achieve maximum lift from the wing the volume of air passing across the wing surfaces is critical for lift! This is largely achieved through forward propulsion of the aircraft due to the air displacement of the pusher propeller in the case of the Prion Mk3.

Prion Mk3 rate of climb @ 43.7 Kg take-off weight, August 2017

Our existing power plant is a proprietary single cylinder 4 stroke 120 cc engine. In August we flew the Prion Mk3 at the take off weight of 43.7 Kg which included 2.25 litres of fuel. With our existing power plant the aircraft rate of climb is shown above for the short 27 minute flight.

To improve the airspeed and rate of climb performance we shall over the next six months complete a new test program to operate at or closer to the theoretical 50Kg lift capacity of the Prion Mk3 wing. This test program will on the one hand look for airframe weight reduction opportunities without compromising strength through the better use of composite advanced technology materials, and on the other hand we are to test performance enhancement options for the power plant. Power plant testing will include displacing the single phase generator with a three phase alternative and testing different third party powerplants such as twin cylinder, rotary and a larger capacity single cylinder units.

The existing payload performance characteristics of the aircraft are now proven for the combination of the VUX-1 LiDAR and the ITRES uCASI 1920 hyperspectral camera, opening an important leading edge commercial surveying market place for UAVE Limited and our Partners Carbomap.

Please view the video for further details of this new service from UAVE\Carbomap\ITRES.

 

 

May 2016 – Building new aircraft

Watch this space!

 

 

April 2016 - New Contract Award by British Antarctic Survey

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) purchase two Prion Mk3 drones from UAVE Limited to be deployed at their science research station, Rothera, during the 2016/2017 summer work season on the Antarctic continent. The contract includes theory and drone operations training to be conducted at the company's new office facility in West Wales combined with flight operations training of a field crew for drone surveying to be conducted at the dedicated segregated drone airspace of West Wales Airfield, Aberporth.

UAVE Limited is pleased that this new award bolsters further our association with the use of the Prion aircraft for scientific surveying purposes which are anticipated to be many and varied across Antarctica. The long range flight endurance characteristic of the Prion is known to have been key to the decision process of the BAS in awarding this contract. The tried and tested Prion Mk3 aircraft as presented at the 2014 Farnborough Air-show by the company MD Phillip Slater are being manufactured in West Wales with all essential aircraft components being sourced from within the UK. The application of this aircraft platform to UK offshore wind farm operations and meteorological / air quality monitoring applications is actively being pursued by the company at this time.

Meeting the BAS at Bourn for demonstration flights

 

February 2016 – Demonstration flights at Bourn Airfield

 

January 2016 – Transporting the Prion Mk3

We purchased our new VW Crafter transport van fitted with flat panel display units in the rear as a mobile base station.

 

 

December 2015 – Relocation of Manufacturing Facility to New Workshop

To help shorten product development cycles it was decided that in the final quarter of 2015 we would relocate the manufacturing workshop from Dorset to a new workshop facility adjacent to our new training facility, our administration offices and our development test flight airfield WWA. The new workshop is a larger facility than the previous unit allowing for several aircraft to be work on simultaneously.

With roller doors on two sides of the workshop and a covered loading bay we can manhandle the aircraft assembled, and run up newly built engines on the engine test bed whilst under cover and protected from the elements without the carbon monoxide poisoning of working in confined spaces!

 

November 2015 – Pilot Training Facility

 

Work on the new training facility was completed in November 2015. The facility can be configured for the training of up to 8 persons simultaneously and benefits from flight simulators, video playback facility and a networked environment.

The training school adopts our in house training manual for both the manual pilot (or safety pilot) and the ground station operator (or autopilot operator). The pilot training school combines theory, a taught course with flight simulators and practical flight exercises with a variety of different sized aircraft ranging from small RC model aircraft to eventually (and with satisfactory progress) the full sized Prion Mk3.

The location of the pilot training facility is at our office and workshop in West Wales with the exception of the final elements of the course which comprise high altitude long flight endurance sorties with the Prion Mk3 to be undertaken at West Wales Airfield dedicated UAV centre which has the ability to implement segregated airspace for that purpose.

 

 

West Wales Airfield dedicated UAV centre which has the ability to implement segregated airspace.