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BAE Systems flies flapless UAV

29th September 2010 - 14:30 GMT | by Andrew White in London

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Demon, a technology demonstrator resulting from the Flapless Air Vehicle Integrated Industrial Research (FLAVIIR) programme, completed its maiden flight in the UK on September 17.

Designed by BAE Systems and a selection of universities including Cranfield, Demon flew from Walney Island, Cumbria and demonstrated a ‘positive and expected’ response to a new control system which relies on fluidic flight control or small air jets which control its movement instead of conventional wing flaps.

According to the company, Demon successfully demonstrated flapless flight when, for a ‘planned portion’ of a test-flight, the conventional flap control system was turned off and the

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Andrew White

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Andrew is a former editor of Digital Battlespace and Unmanned Vehicles magazines. Andrew joined Shephard …

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