Russian Drone Breaks World Flight Time Record

An advanced Russian drone (UAV) has set a new world record for flight duration in open areas. Sputnik reports: A world record for flying in natural weather conditions has been broken by a state-of-the-art octocopter made by the Russian company NELK, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported. Российский беспилотник бьёт мировой рекорд по длительности полета (+ФОТО, ВИДЕО) Октокоптер https://t.co/sBEAW7SLqI pic.twitter.com/u9zYh1D6XK — Русская Весна (@Rusvesna1) April 22, 2016 The new record was set during the drone’s test flight in the town of Chernogolovka in the Moscow Region, which lasted three hours and 10 minutes amid gusty winds and pouring rain. “A Russian drone breaks a world record for flight  duration”, according to this tweet. Despite these flying conditions, the 12-kilogram drone changed altitude and transmitted images and video to a ground-based control center, Izvestia said, citing NELK’s executive director Igor Vasilevsky as saying that the octocopter’s payload stands at 0.5 kilograms. “The octocopter is equipped with a power-supply unit with hydrogen-air fuel elements which helped the drone establish a world flight endurance record during cold weather conditions and high humidity,” he added. The innovative hydrogen-air fuel elements were developed by specialists from the Baranov Aviation Motor-Building Institute and United Aircraft Corporation of Russia, according to the Izvestia. The newspaper also said that in artificial [...]