Schiebel's latest Camcopter takes on the heavies in first flight

The flexibility this engine provides will further add to the wide capabilities of the

unmanned helicopter.

The Schiebel-designed engine fulfilled all expectations and series deliveries are

scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The heavy fuel engine provides customers with the ability to use JP-5 (F-44), Jet A-1 (F-35) and JP-8 (F-34).  Which the Austrian manufacturer says is a flexibility that is not available in other tactical VTOL UAS.

The basic power plant of the S-100 is a Wankel-type (rotary piston) engine, which runs on 100 octane-grade avgas (aviation gasoline) and is rated at 50 HP.

Recent engineering developments have led to the gasoline version of the engine being certified to operate on 95 octane lead-free petrol without loss of power making it ideal for Middle and North African operations where Avgas is a rarity.

The new heavy fuel engine is fully interchangeable with the current engine and upgrade is possible by just replacing the core engine with some accessories of similar specifications and flight performance. In offering lower logistic effort and supporting the single-fuel concept that requires using only one fuel while deployed, this new engine is also ideal for maritime applications.