Elroy Air

The Elroy Air team is packed up and on the road to Yuma! We recently announced that together with Leidos we are demonstrating Chaparral as an autonomous Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary Logistics (MARV-EL) prototype for the Navy and Marine Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems program office (PMA-263). The flight test activities are scheduled for mid-July at the US Army Yuma Proving Grounds (YPG), Yuma, Arizona. The development and testing are part of a contract awarded last year to develop and demonstrate an uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) that can autonomously resupply forward-deployed ground forces for the United States Marine Corps. We’re excited to demonstrate the capabilities of the Chaparral system for PMA-263 over the coming weeks! #MARV_EL #Marines #Chaparral

Refueling Chaparral before a flight test.  #Chaparral #hVTOL #cargodrone #MARV_EL

Our truck testing rig going 90 mph down the runway to test the vibration and loads that the aircraft will see in forward flight. #MARV_EL #Chaparral #hVTOL #testing

#flighttest #Chaparral #groundcontrolstation #hVTOL 

#Chaparral #hVTOL #flighttest #MARV_EL

We are excited to announce that Elroy Air has been honored by the Core77 Design Awards 2024 with a win in the Emerging Technologies category. “The Chaparral is a hopeful, purposeful product, and a daunting endeavor. In utility and capability, it is more "box truck" than it is "Ferrari". In service it is more "aid worker" or "delivery personnel" than it is "war-fighter". The design team felt the aesthetics should reflect these qualities while actively avoiding associations to the most recognizable unmanned flying vehicles which are war machines. The lines of the Chaparral were inspired by sedans and pickup trucks from the 1970's (alongside more future-facing reference). The 'face' was sculpted to maintain a friendly neutrality. All of this was iteratively sculpted then verified via computational flow dynamics. The livery was developed to have a strong A/B read - when above, the bold orange is visible, when parked it remains mostly white and of a piece with general aviation. The appearance of the Chaparral embodies the aspirations of this novel, paradigm shifting technology, while grounding it in the contexts from which it operates.” Thank you Core77 for the honor and congratulations to our design, product, and engineering teams for your tireless commitment to excellence. https://lnkd.in/gYpHKihf #ElroyAir #Core77DesignAwards #EmergingTechnologies #Innovation #Chaparral

Test briefing before sunrise.  #Chaparral #hVTOL #flighttest

Some recent favorite shots of the Chaparral flying at Byron Airport from our very own, very talented, Maxwell Kelly. #Chaparral #hVTOL #cargodrone #MARV_EL

#flighttesting #flightteam #Chaparral #hVTOL #rapiddeployment

In order to power long-range flights, especially for logistics and troop resupply, we designed the Chaparral as a hybrid electric aircraft. In an interview following early test flights, Elroy Air Founder & CEO David Merrill talks about the design choices we’ve made for the Chaparral. By combining distributed electric propulsion and a hybrid electric powerplant for long range, we’re able to meet the unique needs required for resupply, emergency response, moving critical goods, and supporting our troops. #Chaparral #hVTOL #cargodrone