(Richfield, Ohio) – June 1, 2022 – Event 38 Unmanned Systems, a leading manufacturer of American-made mapping drones, announces the release of the E400, a fixed-wing mapping drone with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) functionality and a payload capacity of three pounds. The E400 is designed and manufactured in America.
The E400 is an extremely high-performance drone, with an industry-leading flight time of ninety minutes. This extra flight time translates to greater range and extra margin, so operators can gather more data in a single mission. Additionally, the E400 is much more stable at altitude and in windy conditions, making it more durable and versatile than a multirotor drone.
The E400 incorporates one of the premium features of a multirotor drone: Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL). The E400 can take off or land anywhere at the touch of a button, eliminating the need for specialty launch or recovery equipment.
“We’ve been making fixed-wing drones for over a decade, but the E400 is our first fixed-wing drone with VTOL capabilities. We’re extremely proud to offer this feature,” said Jeff Taylor, founder & CEO of Event38. “At Event 38, we’re always looking for ways to make our drones more useful and accessible. Adding VTOL functionality improved the user friendliness of the E400 by leaps and bounds.”
Event 38 began exploring VTOL functionality for fixed-wing drones in 2019 during a partnership with the Air Force’s Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO). Taylor and his team ran trials with the Air National Guard on a military-grade, carbon fiber, fixed-wing VTOL aircraft, which is now commercially available as the E400.
Another user-friendly feature of the E400 is the plane’s hot-swap payload bay. The E400’s payload can be changed in under a minute without specialty tools or skills, minimizing down time between missions. Customers can choose from a variety of specialty cameras and other advanced sensors, including high-resolution aerial photogrammetry, thermal and multispectral imagery, LiDAR, and live video streaming. The E400’s payload pay has an open interface, so customers can integrate virtually any camera or sensor with Event 38’s open-source autopilot software.
Event 38 is now accepting orders for the E400 fixed-wing mapping drone. Each E400 is manufactured at Event 38’s headquarters in Richfield, Ohio.
“The E400 is the only drone of its kind that’s made on American soil,” said Taylor. “This drone is the culmination of everything we’ve learned over the past ten years and the advancements we made in partnership with the military, and we’re incredibly proud to bring the E400 to market.”
For more information about the E400 and Event 38 Unmanned Systems, please visit www.event38.com.
About Event 38 Unmanned Systems
Event 38 designs and manufactures fixed-wing VTOL drones in Richfield, Ohio. Since 2011, we’ve sold over 600 aircraft to industry and governments all around the globe. Our drones capture geo-tagged data for a range of industries and applications. Event 38 drones can be customized for high-resolution aerial photogrammetry, thermal and multispectral imagery, LiDAR, and live video streaming.
