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Merrill UAS Auto-Piloted by MicroPilot Gains Experimental Airworthiness Certification in US

Merrill Aviation and Defense was recently issued a special Experimental Airworthiness Certification for its UAS, The Torrent. This system, flown by MicroPilot autopilot technology, can now fly legally in designated US airspace.

January 5, 2015 - Stony Mountain, Manitoba, Canada – The Torrent is the first unmanned aerial system (UAS) in the Great Lakes States (Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota) to be issued an Experimental Airworthiness Certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). With this certification, The Torrent, a product of Merrill Aviation and Defense, can now conduct product development flights, crew and customer training, customer demonstrations, and pilot training within designated airspace.

Released in May 2013, The Torrent is lightweight, all-electric, hand-launchable and powered by a superior propulsion system. The aircraft is extremely stable and achieves silent flight for over six hours on batteries alone and over ten hours with optional solar cells, all while maintaining a cruising speed of 45 MPH.

The Torrent’s flight operation relies on MicroPilot’s MP2128^HELI autopilot. The MP2128^HELI provides extraordinary user definability. Additionally, its open architecture provides access to gains and the ability to load custom code using MicroPilot's developer's kit. The autopilot is not only lightweight it is particularly versatile, making the MP2128^HELI a popular choice for UAV manufacturers. The MP2128^HELI flies fixed wing, helicopter, and multi-rotor UAVs—all using the same software.

“The Experimental Airworthiness Certificate is a major step forward for the UAS industry,” says Howard Loewen, MicroPilot President. “MicroPilot continually supports US-based commercial UAS projects by providing the hardware, software, and services needed to get off the ground.”

Uses for The Torrent include reconnaissance, surveillance and target Acquisition (RSTA), disaster assistance, convoy escort, border monitoring, payload evaluation and counter-narcotics.

About MicroPilot

With 850 clients in over 70 countries, MicroPilot is the world leader in miniature autopilots for UAVs and MAVs. MicroPilot is the first UAV autopilot manufacturer to bring to market a sub 30 gram autopilot, triple redundant autopilot, and full-function general purpose autopilot. MicroPilot offers a family of lightweight UAV autopilots that can fly fixed-wing, transitional, helicopter, and Multi Rotor UAVs. MicroPilot also provides complementary products such as the XTENDER^mp SDK, trueHWIL, payloads, and catapults.