Quietest 550-lb electric coaxial rotorcraft completes flight trials

A new 550-pound all-electric coaxial rotorcraft developed by Texas A&M University’s Advanced Vertical Flight Laboratory and Harmony Aeronautics has completed successful flight trials, demonstrating stable and exceptionally quiet hover performance. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) recorded noise levels of about 74 decibels at 50 feet during hover tests, making it the quietest rotorcraft in its class at this scale. The aircraft features a proprietary coaxial rotor design with electronically coupled dual swashplates, enabling precise collective and cyclic pitch control, and can carry a 200-pound payload with a gross weight of 750 pounds. Harmony Aeronautics, founded in 2018 initially for the Boeing GoFly challenge, focused heavily on reducing rotor noise through innovations such as blade shaping to minimize unsteady loading noise caused by rotor interference. Despite losing their first aircraft before the competition, the team continued development, utilizing extensive testing facilities in College Station, Texas. The rotorcraft’s rotors spin at a constant RPM