Pulse Aerospace, a Lawrence, KS based unmanned aircraft systems developer, released their latest product, the PA-01 Vapor helicopter unmanned aircraft system (UAS), at the PIPELINE Innovator of the Year Event in Overland Park, KS on January 26, 2012. Bill Donovan, President of Pulse Aerospace, was selected into the 2011 group of high-growth oriented innovators to take part in the PIPELINE entrepreneurial fellowship culminating in venture capital presentations to judges including Thomas B. Pickens III of Astrotech; Lars Perkins, founder of Picasa; and Suren Dutia, Kauffman Foundation Fellow. “It was really great to put our company through this process.” said Bill Donovan. “There are a lot of business incubators out there for new ideas, but PIPELINE is more focused on helping existing companies that are poised for strong growth, and the timing worked out well for us to release our new product, the Vapor, at the event.” During his presentation, Donovan emphasized that a new commercial market is emerging, which they hope to capitalize on with the Vapor. “To integrate UAS into the commercial market you have to do three things: You have to make them easier to operate, more affordable, and more reliable. We designed the Vapor with these goals in mind,” said Donovan.

High growth is a modest way to describe what the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) industry is expected to see over the next decade as these systems are integrated into the commercial market. This bodes well for Pulse Aerospace’s newest product, because this system was developed with more than just military users in mind. “The first systems that will fly commercially in the US will be small vehicles operated close to the user,” said Lance Holly, Vice President of Pulse Aerospace. “Vertical Takeoff or Landing (VTOL) systems offer the easiest operation, and it has long been understood that helicopters provide the best endurance and payload capacity in the VTOL space.” Pulse Aerospace has already garnered significant interest from potential customers of the system, and will be releasing flight demonstration videos on their website, www.pulseaero.com, over the coming weeks.

www.pulseaero.com