Piasecki Completes Phase 1 Flight Test Program.

ESSINGTON, Pa. -- Piasecki Aircraft Corporation (PiAC) announced today the successful completion of their Phase 1 Air Guard Technology Demonstrator flight test program. The Air Guard Technology Demonstrator is the world's first autonomous autogyro and incorporates a 6-DoF model provided by Georgia Tech with an autonomy system supplied by Geneva Aerospace; integrated by PiAC onto a commercial kit autogyro platform. The demonstration included the integration of the KineCommand(tm) C2 advanced UAS control system and KineMap(tm) Mapping Toolkit supplied by team partner Lockheed Martin Systems Integration Owego, NY (LMSI-O). The Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) control system allows for a natural-language voice command and response operator interface, as well as handheld "tablet" control to allow a single-operator to control multiple autonomous vehicles. Using this integrated system, Team Air Guard was able to show the following advanced features during the September 6-8 demonstration:

--Multiple Autonomous Flights with Automatic Mission Planning and Mission Management, Negotiated Interaction, Management by Exception, and High Level Mission Plan Inputs

--Multiple Waypoint Navigation with Dynamic In-Flight Mission Re-planning, Consisting of both Altitude and Airspeed Changes

--Racetrack and "Figure-8" Loiter Patterns

--Flight Controls Slaved to Sensor

--Remote Sensor Control from Ground Station/Tablet

--Persistent Stare Loitering - Vehicle Slaved to Sensor, Sensor Locked to Target

--Simulated Loss and In-flight Reconnect of Data Communications Link

Building on this successful flight test program, PiAC will continue expanding the flight envelope of the system, incorporating Level V autonomous take-off and landing. The FCS Air Guard Team includes PiAC, LMSI-O, and Belzon (Huntsville, AL).

About Piasecki Aircraft Corporation

Piasecki Aircraft Corporation (PiAC) is an aerospace research and development engineering and manufacturing company with a focus on the development of advanced vertical lift aircraft technologies. Its founder, Frank N. Piasecki is one of the original pioneers of the helicopter industry, winner of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Lifetime Achievement Award, and has been awarded America's highest technical honor, the National Medal of Technology.