Yuneec International

Yuneec International
Industry Aerospace
Founded 1999
Headquarters Jiangsu, China
Key people
 Wenyan Jiang, Tian Yu
Products Electric drones
Electric aircraft
Unmanned aerial vehicles
Number of employees
 1800
Subsidiaries GreenWing International
Website www.yuneec.com

Yuneec International is a Chinese aircraft manufacturer owned by Tian Yu and based in Jinxi, Kunshan, a town in Jiangsu. Yuneec markets its man-carrying aircraft in the United States through GreenWing International.[1] Yuneec produced the Yuneec International E430, the first electric aircraft designed to be commercially produced, although only prototypes were ever built.[2]

History

Yuneec was originally a manufacturer of radio-controlled model aircraft. The company built the first successful electric powered paraglider that was manufactured in series production, the EPac. Company owner Tian Yu then turned his attention to an electric ultralight trike, the Yuneec International ETrike. From there he designed a series of electric motors, the Yuneec Power Drive series, the all-composite E430 and the EViva motorglider. Collaboration with Flightstar Sportplanes of the US brought the Yuneec International e-Spyder design to completion, using an existing airframe with new electric power components.[3]

In July 2010, Yuneec's E430 electric aircraft, won the Lindbergh Electric Airplane Prize at the World Electric Aircraft symposium.[2] Yuneec's e-Spyder was the world's first certified electric aircraft, having received the DULV Type Certification in February 2013.[4]

In August 2015, Intel Corporation invested $60 million in Yuneec.[5][6] Intel and Yuneec agreed to work together on development of future projects.[7] That same month, Yuneec launched Breeze, a drone capable of capturing UltraHD 4K photos and videos.[8] Yuneec announced a retail partnership with Best Buy covering the Typhoon drone series and the Typhoon Wizard controller.[9]

The Typhoon G featuring its GB203 3-axis gimbal designed for use with the GoPro camera was released in September 2015 to smooth and stabilize aerial footage.[10] In October 2015, Yuneec released the Typhoon Wizard, an ultra-lightweight remote control compatible with the Typhoon drone series designed to be used with one hand.[11] Yuneec partnered with Ocean Alliance, a whale conservation organization, in 2015 to create a safer way of collecting health data from whales. Rather than using biopsy darts, Ocean Alliance began using Yuneec drones outfitted with petri dishes to retrieve samples.[12][13][14]

One of Yuneec's drones, the Typhoon Q500+, was seized by the police in June 2016 when its operator was flying it near the White House. The operator crashed a drone on The Ellipse near the White House in October 2015.[15]

Yuneec released the Typhoon H in July 2016. The drone used the Intel RealSense 3D depth camera technology which tracks depth and human motion.[16][8] The SkyView FPV heaset was released in August 2016. The headset connects to a drone's onboard camera allowing the user to control the drone from the first person view.[17][18]

Aircraft

Summary of aircraft built by Yuneec International
Model name First flight Number built Type
Yuneec International EPac Electric powered paraglider
Yuneec International E430 2009 Electric aircraft
Yuneec International e-Spyder Electric aircraft
Yuneec International ETrike Electric aircraft
Yuneec International EViva 2012 one Electric aircraft
Yuneec International Q500 Typhoon 2015 Electric quadrotor UAV
Yuneec International H920 2015 Electric hexacopter UAV
Yuneec International Typhoon H 2016 Electric hexacopter UAV
Yuneec International Breeze 2016 Electric quadcopter UAV

References

  1. ↑ Aviation Week & Space Technology: 60. 23 October 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 1 2 Nikki Heeren (August 13, 2010). "World's first Electric Aircraft has great potential". Mobile Mag.
  3. ↑ Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 85. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
  4. ↑ "Yuneec e-Spyder electric powered ultralight or light sport aircraft". Sport Aviation Magazine.
  5. ↑ Jack Clark (January 4, 2016). "Intel Buys Ascending Technologies in Further Drone Push". Bloomberg.
  6. ↑ Michael De Waal-Montgomery (August 26, 2015). "Intel continues drone push with $60M investment into China’s Yuneec". Venture Beat.
  7. ↑ Jack Clark (August 26, 2015). "Intel Invests $60 Million in Chinese Drone Maker Yuneec". Bloomberg.
  8. 1 2 Dean Takahasi (August 30, 2016). "Yuneec’s Breeze is a flying camera that is pretty hard to crash". Venture Beat.
  9. ↑ Betsy Lillian (October 15, 2015). "Best Buy to Start Selling Yuneec Drones". Unmanned Aerial.
  10. ↑ "Yuneec International Unveils GoPro Enabled Typhoon G Drone". Freshness Mag. September 10, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Yuneec Announces Launch of Typhoon Wizard". Apparatus Mag. October 14, 2015.
  12. ↑ "6 crazy areas where photography is used outside of the drone". Business HT. November 18, 2015.
  13. ↑ Kelsey D. Atherton (November 19, 2015). "Watch This Drone Catch Whale Snot". Popular Science.
  14. ↑ Hannah Jane Parkinson (April 18, 2016). "Pizza, porn and whale snot: seven alternative uses for drones". The Guardian.
  15. ↑ Bart Jansen (June 28, 2016). "Man who crashed drone near White House cited for D.C. flight. Again.". USA Today.
  16. ↑ Shoshanna Solomon (July 4, 2016). "Intel uses Israeli vision technology in new Yuneec drone". Times of Israel.
  17. ↑ Brittany A. Roston (August 4, 2016). "Yuneec SkyView FPV headset makes drone operation immersive". Slash Gear.
  18. ↑ Malek Murison (August 4, 2016). "Yuneec Releases FPV Headset - SkyView". Drone Life.
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