Harwood Custom Composites, a Victoria based company specializing in the production of composite parts for the aerospace industry has contracted to supply UAV airframes for Quaternion, a Canada-based R&D supplier of design and engineering services to global UAV manufacturers.
Harwood Custom Composites (HCC) of Sidney British Columbia, announced today that it has contracted with Quaternion Aerospace, for the production of UAV airframes. HCC specializes in the design and production of aerospace components in employing advanced composites materials and methods. Quaternion is a Victoria based research and development corporation that provides design and engineering services to the global aviation manufacturers involved in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle production.
HCC began its partnership with Quaternion over six months ago, acting in an advisory capacity on materials and manufacturing methods for production of a new UAV platform design. Drawing on their experience in the use of carbon fiber and other advanced materials used in structural assemblies for a variety of commercial and performance aircraft, HCC supported the design evolution of the prototype with features enabling future manufacturing with proven methods and materials. In addition, HCC’s experience in designing and manufacturing custom components for competitive radio controlled aircraft provided practical experience with the unique demands of smaller aircraft operating at extreme performance limits.
Quaternion Vice President Operations, Jenner Richards states that… “working with Harwood Custom Composites is a true partnership for us, as we can rely on HCC to manufacture components that meet all physical, structural and appearance standards in a cost effective and timely fashion. It enables us to focus our time and energy on engineering and design….”
HCC will initially manufacture the QT-1 airframe for Quaternion. The QT-1 is specialized R&D platform developed for research purposes. Quaternion currently supplies the QT-1 globally to academic and R&D organizations for the purposes of testing mission adapted equipment, airfoils and power plants. The market for this specialized platform is growing as UAV’s become more commonly employed for routine aviation missions. As Quaternion’s current design projects mature to production phase, HCC will undertake additional manufacturing as required.
HCC is a preferred supplier of both composite and thermoformed parts to STC and OEM suppliers. Information abut HCC’s current projects can be found on its website www.hccaerospace.com .