US Manufacturer Harris Aerial Launches New Hybrid Gas Electric Drone

U.S. -based commercial drone manufacturer Harris Aerial has just launched a gas and electric hybrid cargo drone for extended flight capabilities.

The Carrier H4 Hybrid is not Harris Aerial’s first offering.  The company provides heavy lift drones able to carry sophisticated sensors to universities and research institutions in overseas markets without weight-based (over 55 pounds) drone regulations.  The Carrier H4 is light enough to fly in the U.S., and offers the endurance that only hybrid fuel sources can provide.

“Hybrid drones are the future of this technology,” says Ben Harris, president of Harris Aerial. “This new drone is capable of performing significantly better than any other drone on the market today.”

“The Carrier H4 Hybrid drone can fly uninterrupted carrying a payload weighing nearly 10 pounds for more than two hours,” says the company. “Without a payload, the drone can fly nearly five hours.”   The company plans attempt to break the world’s record on drone flight with the Carrier H4 Hybrid, currently four hours and 40 minutes.

Compared to other hybrid drones on the market, the Carrier H4 Hybrid has the largest capacity for carrying payload and is easier to transport, with the ability to fold to under half its size.  The Carrier H4 Hybrid will be used for a wide range of industrial uses, such as search and rescue, disaster response and surveying.

“Longer flight capabilities provided by our Carrier H4 Hybrid pave the way for more efficient operations with any application,” says Harris.  “The ability to have comparable flight times to fixed wing aircrafts with the ability to stop and hover seamlessly is a real game-changer in the drone industry, and we are excited to make it available to everyone.”

Harris points out that in some mission critical applications, longer endurance drones can be lifesaving tools.

“Extended flight is essential in disaster situations where there is limited power and dangerous conditions for our first responders,” Harris says. “By using a hybrid drone, they will be able to deliver supplies quicker and save more lives, including their own, without stopping to swap batteries or to charge the drone.”