"post traumatic stress disorder impatience"
LOL - that's a great analogy. I was a little disappointed by the test delay, but it's only because I got so used to the improved execution of the company and a management team that has pretty much delivered on what they said they were going to do. I think this was one of the few PR's where they mentioned a hard set of dates and then had to change the timeframe. But it's only by a few months, at most, according to their new estimates and it is for a good reason - IMHO.
If you are trying to land business with a new, and innovative solution designed to support multiple devices from different customers and someone comes to you with a request to accomodate some additional "stuff" - would you not want to take the time to do so if all other parties agreed that the delay was in the best interest of the project? What if it were FEMA? Would that make the delay acceptable then?
I am not discounting the possibility that the technology could be flawed. Afterall, there is no contract to purchase a fleet of Argus, and the purpose of the Yuma test is to provide further evidence that the Eastcor folks know how to engineer a commercial grade UAV solution. Remember too, that the Yuma tests are to set the precedent for an experimental license from the FAA so we still have a ways to go.
It's always possible that the Eastcor folks bit off more than they could chew and they are scrambling to save face and buy more time. If they are evasive at the SHM and we have another delay for Yuma, then the naysayers might be closer to the right prediction that this continues to be nothing more than a scam company who fails to execute.
The test video, to me, showed visual proof of the Argus lofted higher than 10's of feet above the earth. It can ascend and descend. Was it tethered? Was it it free flight? Was the motor operational? I could not tell. Was it possible that the Argus was being towed? Notice the vehicle moving to the right at the begiinning of the video as the Argus was being pulled from the hangar. Plus the upward pitch of the nose for most of the time could indicate that it was being pullled against the wind like a kite. I would not be the least bit suprised if it were tethered since it's been stated that previous testing required the UAV to be secured to the ground due to imposed regulatory restrictions. Yuma was going to provide the arena for untethered testing.
The PR stated it has been tested to 2500'....the Argus MTS specs talk about a solution for 3000' so maybe there is a connection.
Some other design changes can be seen comparing the older pix of the Argus where the head segment connection material covered more area than the link between the head and body in the video. Plus there is now some sort of box mounted under the second segment.
This certainly makes for interesting discussion.
AI
