Cuxhaven - Helgoland - Cuxhaven: Successful UAS Long-Distance Flight Test

At the Offshore Drone Campus Cuxhaven (ODDC), unmanned systems for operations in coastal regions are developed and tested under realistic conditions. The facility also serves as an excellent platform for evaluating technical and organizational operational concepts. Recently, the campus, managed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM), became the launch and landing point for a long-distance flight spanning 180 kilometers to the island of Helgoland and back.

How can routine flights beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) be implemented safely? How can these operations integrate seamlessly over the North Sea, harmonizing with air and maritime traffic? These questions guided the Fraunhofer IFAM and the company Droniq in early December during a project collaboration that successfully tested a 180-kilometer round-trip flight from Cuxhaven to Helgoland. A fixed-wing drone of the type HAS S360 Mk.II, equipped with a combustion engine designed for long flight durations and distances, was used. The unmanned system, developed by Hanseatic Aviation Solutions in Bremen, was monitored from the ODDC control center in Cuxhaven. Flying at an altitude of just over 200 meters, the drone was equipped with safety measures such as satellite communication, aviation radio, a parachute, and a flotation device to prepare for potential emergency landings.


> This article was created in collaboration with Drones, the magazine for the drone economy. www.drones-magazin.de