Hybrid VTOL drones
A drone with both rotors and a wing — it takes off and lands vertically like a multirotor, then flies forward on the wing with the range of an aeroplane.
- VTOL drone
- tiltrotor drone
- tail-sitter
No products in this category yet.
What it is
A hybrid VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft carries lift rotors for the vertical phases and a fixed wing for cruise. Going straight up removes the launcher and strip a fixed-wing drone needs; cruising on the wing gives it range a multirotor cannot match. It pays in weight and complexity: in cruise the lift rotors are dead mass and drag, in hover the wing is a sail, and the transition between the two is the hardest moment of the flight.
Three layouts cover most of them: a quadplane with separate lift and cruise propellers, a tiltrotor that swivels the same motors, and a tail-sitter that pitches over as a whole. All three belong here. In this taxonomy the rule is both rotors for vertical flight and a wing for cruise.
What they are used for
- Corridor mapping — power lines, railways, pipelines and roads, flown from a lay-by rather than an airfield.
- Survey from confined sites — the same mapping job as a fixed-wing drone, launched from a clearing or a roof.
- Medium-range delivery — medical samples and supplies between clinics, where the landing pad is a car park.
- Maritime and public safety — launch and recovery from a ship's deck or a station yard.
What to compare
| Attribute | Why it matters | In this catalogue |
|---|---|---|
flight_time |
Longer than a multirotor, shorter than a pure wing of the same size | not yet in the catalogue |
max_takeoff_weight |
Weight class sets licensing, and the lift motors push it up a class | not yet in the catalogue |
payload |
Mapping cameras and lidar; delivery boxes on the larger airframes | not yet in the catalogue |
autonomy |
The transition is always flown by the autopilot, so these are mission-planned aircraft by nature | not yet in the catalogue |
ip_rating |
Whether it can fly in the rain it will meet on a long route | not yet in the catalogue |
sdk |
Open autopilots support all three layouts; commercial airframes expose a mission planner | not yet in the catalogue |
In the catalogue
No products yet — this is where quadplane and tiltrotor mapping and delivery drones would go.
Edge cases
- Multirotor with small winglets: still a multirotor unless the wing carries it in cruise.
- Tail-sitter: here, even without a separate cruise propeller — the wing does the cruising.
- Fixed-wing with parachute landing: fixed-wing; vertical landing is not vertical take-off.
Related
Rule of membership
Both rotors for vertical flight and a fixed wing for cruise.
Category rb-6-3 in the whatrobot taxonomy.