The Pouncer drone: Windhorse has flown before
Before it was a drone site, this address belonged to Windhorse Aerospace, a British team that designed the Pouncer: an aid glider meant to be released from a C-130 Hercules, glide 22 to 25 miles (35 to 40 km) on its own and land within about 23 ft (7 m) of its target with 110 lb (50 kg) of food.
- Wingspan
- 9.8ft
- Payload
- 110lb
- Glide range
- 22–25mi
- Lands within about
- 23ft
Windhorse Aerospace and the Pouncer aid glider
The company's pages, archived from 2016 to early 2022, show scale models at events, aerodynamic calculations and flight trials in progress, with the aim of having Pouncers in the air in 2018. None of them reports a trial result, a certification or a delivery of aid.
The same address, a different site
Windhorse today is a new, independent site about flying drones in the U.S. It has the same address but a different owner and a different subject. It is not Windhorse Aerospace, does not speak for it, and does not build or sell the Pouncer.
The Pouncer drone in numbers
Every figure below comes from the Windhorse Aerospace factsheet of September 2016.
The factsheet gives metric units; U.S. units come first here, converted and rounded by us. Other pages of the same site give slightly different figures; this table keeps to the factsheet.
Wingspan 9.8 ft (3.0 m) Fuselage 4.9 ft (1.5 m) Plan view · 1 square = 3.9 in (10 cm)
- Wingspan
- 9.8 ft (3.0 m)
- Fuselage length
- 4.9 ft (1.5 m)
- Payload
- 110 lb (50 kg)
- Empty mass
- 55 lb (25 kg)
- Food carried
- 50 person-days of rations for Asia and Africa, 40 for Europe, the Americas and Oceania
- Glide range
- 22 to 25 mi (35 to 40 km) from a release at 10,000 ft
- Highest release
- 25,000 ft, for a glide of about 62 mi (100 km)
- Release speed
- 120 knots (138 mph)
- Released from
- C-130 Hercules
- Accuracy
- About 23 ft (7 m)
- Load volume
- 5.3 cu ft (0.15 m³)
- Planned price
- £500 per glider
Source: Windhorse Aerospace, Pouncer factsheet, September 2016 (Internet Archive copy of October 19, 2016).
How the Pouncer was meant to work
Released far from the drop zone, flying itself, and used once.
Released from a C-130 Hercules at 120 knots 10,000 ft 22 to 25 mi (35 to 40 km) Lands within about 23 ft (7 m) Diagram · not to scale
Released from a distance
The Pouncer was to leave a C-130 Hercules at 10,000 ft and 120 knots, 22 miles (35 km) or more from the drop zone, so the transport plane would never have to fly over it. Even the 9.8 ft (3 m) wingspan came from the plane: it is the most that fits inside a Hercules.
Flying itself
Once released, it was meant to steer itself with no remote control, glide up to 25 miles (40 km) and land within about 23 ft (7 m) of its target. Frazer-Nash Consultancy ran the proof-of-concept aerodynamic calculations for its clipped-delta wing.
Used once
It was built for a one-way trip. After delivering its 110 lb (50 kg) of food, the airframe was to be broken up for shelter and fuel, so no one would have to recover it. The 2016 factsheet looked further still: “one day, the airframe may be made of edible components.”
The archived pages stop before any result: the company's 2017 posts speak of flight trials under way and of flights hoped for in 2018.
From the archive
Two articles from the old site still open at their original addresses, retold in our words from the Internet Archive's copies.
The old site's other pages, its blog posts, press list, video and scenario pages and the factsheet, now lead here.
| Page | Original address | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Windhorse Aerospace: the Pouncer drone | /article.php/5/windhorse-aerospace-the-pouncer-drone | The company's introduction to the Pouncer. Archive copy of January 28, 2022. |
| Pouncer: a multi-use, adaptable platform | /article.php/42/pouncer-a-multi-use-adaptable-platform | The first post of the company's blog: three sizes and many kinds of aid. Archive copy of January 22, 2022. |
The idea drew wide attention after its launch in September 2016, and some doubt. When a column in The Atlantic questioned it in March 2017, the company answered on its blog that the Pouncer was meant as one more option for aid agencies, packed and sent by their people on the ground, and that every answer is a concept until it is finished.
Windhorse today is a different publication: an independent drone site for people who fly in the U.S. Who runs it and how it checks its facts is on the About page.
Spotted an error? Write to support@windhorse.aero.
Sources
- Windhorse Aerospace, Pouncer factsheet, September 2016 (Internet Archive copy of October 19, 2016)
- Windhorse Aerospace, “Windhorse Aerospace - The Pouncer Drone” (copy of January 28, 2022)
- Windhorse Aerospace, “POUNCER - a multi use, adaptable platform” (copy of January 22, 2022)
- Windhorse Aerospace, “Why should we pay for Silicon Valley's sins?” (copy of January 28, 2022)
- Windhorse Aerospace, blog posts of 2016 and 2017 on events and the team (copies of January 2022)