S-PLANE is proud to announce that our head office will be moving to a larger, dedicated facility in Somerset West, South Africa. Our new facility is located approximately 15 minutes’ drive from our previous facility and 20 minutes’ drive from Cape Town International Airport. With the growth we have experienced over the course of 2011 and the associated need for more office, production and integration space, we have outgrown our current facility outside Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The first fully operational HIL Simulator 202s were delivered to a client today. These units are able to simulate the dynamics, sensors, actuators and environmental conditions associated with the flight of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. They even model contact surface dynamics, engine interfaces, payloads and just about everything else you would want from a true high fidelity HIL Simulator.

The first SWIFT unmanned aircraft was delivered to a client today. The aircraft was the product of careful design aimed at providing a modern and affordable UAV solution to both commercial and military markets. With a 7.5 m wingspan, sufficient fuel capacity for more than 12 hours of operation and a Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) of 250 kg, SWIFT exceeds the conventional specifications of a Tactical UAV.

The NIGHTINGALE UAV successfully completed 71 field trial flights for the NHLS. The controlled field trials simulated flying sterilised medical samples between clinics and laboratories. 45 Short autonomous flights were completed outside Somerset West, each covering a 10 km round-trip between a virtual clinic and a virtual laboratory. A further 26 autonomous flights were conducted between a clinic in Paternoster on the West Coast of South Africa and a laboratory site outside Vredenburg. These 30 km flights included an airdrop of mock payloads at the laboratory site.

HIL Simulator 201 Hardware In the Loop simulator systems were successfully  demonstrated and delivered to a client on 28 August 2010. These highly versatile  simulators were demonstrated in conjunction with S-Plane’s CA-1.4 FCUs in order to illustrate the complete flight, sensor, actuator and  environmental simulation capability of the system.

This week, the Nightingale UAS completed its 50th consecutive successful flight. Nightingale is proving to be a reliable and robust unmanned aircraft system. Our congratulations are extended to the team for executing an exceptional project on time. Nightingale will enter field trials on the West Coast of South Africa by mid-October 2010.