[hengheng]

So manufacturer says MTOW is 90kg, which likely means they barely got it in the air once at freezing temperatures on a very long tarmac strip. Max speed of 170 km/h would indicate that it's happy cruising at around 120-150 km/h. The place they found it in a barn is 170km away from the Morrocan coast around El Hoceima, so about two hours of flight including take-off and climb. Compared to a specified 7hr max flight time, they'd have to fill it up to about one third, so 9 liters of fuel, or 7kg.

An empty weight of 25kg and 7kg of fuel gives us rougly 32kg of empty take-off mass, and you then could load it up with not-quite 50kg of payload. Significant, but a far cry from the 150kg that was reported.

[blutack]

Unfortunately, the 26.5kg empty weight they specify is the bare airframe. That means it excludes the engine, VTOL powertrain (motors + escs + props), general wiring/electronics and VTOL batteries.

Their quoted "25kg" payload is likely about right for a shorter flight.

[yial]

This is running on gas, not electric. Their suggested config includes 27 liters of fuel.

[mwambua]

Interesting! I was confused by the electric vertical motors in the news story's image... but it looks like the main engine is fuel powered, and an alternator powers the electric motors: https://www.muginuav.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Mugin-60...

[hengheng]

Yeah, likely. I'd still be confident that it can cross the mediterranean away from the Strait of Gibraltar. But maybe the overpromising is why they found it in a barn in mint condition, and not in the air.

[MomoXenosaga]

I suppose drones could be a backup plan if the authorities ever manage to get a grip on shipping.

[blutack]

Definitely given enough fuel and decent weather.

[snovv_crash]

90kg is in VTOL mode, it doesn't have wheels for a rolling takeoff