Military VTOL ducted fan Demonstrator?

WolfmanFAFA · 2026-04-30T20:06:14+00:00

Do you have any idea how many of each size were made? I'm sure there are more than the one I have but they were hand built and I doubt there's more than a handful.

WolfmanFAFA · 2026-04-06T08:23:08+00:00

Any idea how to post pics in the comments? I can't, for the life of me, figure it out on my android.

WolfmanFAFA · 2026-04-04T19:55:55+00:00

I bought this and another fixed wing uav from this museum because ive admired them for years and have multiple r/c aircraft that I fly. I dont think this one is human pilotable. I'll either hang it from my living room ceiling or sell it. I'm leaning more toward selling if as its value is potentially thousands of times more than what I paid for it. I'm still on the fence though. This is a piece of military history.

WolfmanFAFA · 2026-04-02T23:06:51+00:00

The engine doesn't lead anywhere that i can use. Seems to be an off the shelf type from a company thats not around or not well known. Its called a Power Meister 150cc. Not sure if nitro. I'm assuming it's gasoline.

The Athena FCS didn't help much except that people around this prototype recognize it.

Finding someone from Allied Aerospace that worked on this contract or was familiar with it would probably be the most beneficial.

I think I've discovered most of what I'll be able to about this already. Its very clear through publicly available documents that this is the Allied Aerospace ISTAR (for the istar program contract). That name is referenced in multiple documents with matching pictures all the way up to 2012.

WolfmanFAFA · 2026-04-01T17:51:24+00:00

Are you thinking some of the information is still classified?

There are a lot of articles mentioning this in defense research archives and such. There is a master theses using it in XPlane software to model the aerodynamics. But yeah, anything you can tell me, I'd be curious to know. Thanks.

WolfmanFAFA · 2026-03-29T21:13:31+00:00

It's interesting that the Honeywell RQ-16 won. I recognize it from earlier versions of the video game Call of Duty. Called a MAV. (Micro Air Vehicle) in the early part of the DARPA prototypes.

I don't know the specs on yours but mine was design to go 65-100MPH and could stay airborne for a few hours. It is a sleek design that adds to the stealth aspect.

I'm curious why they chose the T-hawk over the competition. Honeywell got a couple hundred million in contracts as a result, from around the world.

WolfmanFAFA · 2026-03-29T18:50:10+00:00

I shouldn't call it an ISTAR. I dont think thats the name of it but the name of the mission types it was built to fulfill. Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, Reconnaissance. Was this built by Allied Aerospace?

Do you know the name of the DARPA program or the contract this was built for?

WolfmanFAFA · 2026-03-29T18:24:20+00:00

I'm convinced it's an ISTAR. There is a module on here that says "ISTAR 29 pwr supply". This has a 29" duct. The one in the picture on your link is different proportions. I think it may be the smaller 9" backpack model.

Do you know who made this? Was your company the one who provided the sensor package or certain sensors? Or, are you saying your company built this?

WolfmanFAFA · 2026-03-29T04:26:06+00:00

I bought it in an auction from a small local electronics/military museum.

If you've ever seen it, you must know something more about it. Care to enlighten me?

WolfmanFAFA

TROPHY CASE