Parrot’s new drone doesn’t fly like a bird, it flies like a plane

It seems this week is all about drones and their development because we have another awesome bit of UAV goodness heading your way.

First up is a glorious fixed-wing UAV from Parrot, the very same people who brought you the Bebop 2 — a powerful little quadcopter drone that is allegedly windproof up to 40mph (that’s about 64 kph).

With the Disco, Parrot are looking to shake their lineup up with this foam-plastic fixed-wing drone that has automated takeoff and landing. That means you can just toss it in the air and the drone will start flying though it does need a little bit of room to get it climbing.

The Disco, with it’s single propeller and detachable wings, can hit speeds of up to 50mph (around 80kph) and stay flying for about 45 minutes on a single charge. There is also an ultrasound camera mounted at the bottom of the drone that helps it land autonomously.

Well, more like crash autonomously if we’re looking at the teaser footage.

Like the Bebop 2, you can control the Disco with Parrot’s Skycontroller or plot a flight plan and have the drone do the flying itself. The drone also has a “return home” function that does exactly what the name suggests.

Mounted at the front is the same eye-like 14-megapixel fisheye lens camera Parrot mounts on the Bebop 2, so it will likely feature the same digital panning and stability options as well.

While ditching the quadcopter design lets you fly more realistically (especially with FPV goggles), there will inevitably be drawbacks. The drone, for example, loses its ability to hover and takeoff vertically, making it less ideal for filming. It will also inevitably be less stable and manoeuvrable than a quadcopter.

Upside? You can fly, turn and pitch like an actual plane. COOL.

Despite their claims, The Verge points out that Parrot aren’t the first to introduce a ready-to-fly fixed-wing drone as there are already several small fixed-wing drones in the market.

Though we do think the Disco is one of the best looking fixed-wing drones out there. Or almost out there, since it’s still a prototype. Parrot does plan to make this available to consumers within this year so that’s something to look forward to.

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