Hood River, OR, April 09, 2014 -- The first RQ-21A squadron for the Marine Corps lauds the “expeditionary” quality of Hood Tech Mechanical’s UAV Mark 4 launcher.

From: Hood Tech Corp Vision, Inc., Hood River, Oregon
Date: April 8, 2014
Subject: High Praise from Early Users of Hood Tech Mechanical’s Mark 4 UAV Launcher
Contact: Dr. Andy von Flotow, Hood Tech Corp Vision, Inc., 541-387-2288, [email protected]

According to an online article in dvids (Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System--http://www.dvidshub.net/news/122653/vmu-2-exercises-new-expeditionary-capability), the Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2 is highly pleased with the “expeditionary” quality of the images produced by Hood Tech Vision’s imaging system. The article quotes Staff Sgt. Joseph Fantz, an unmanned aerial vehicle operator with the squadron, “With the way this system launches and lands it does not require a runway, which enhances the expeditionary capabilities of the Marine Corps”. The Mark 4 can be used on shipboard or land-based; either way it provides a compact, rugged means of making the UAV airborne.

When in 2002 Hood Tech began producing innovative UAV launchers and retrieval systems for small UAVs, those innovations enabled the elimination of runways for launch and retrieval. This freed aircraft for shipboard use, for deployment in irregular or disrupted landscapes, and for other difficult locations. Showing their ruggedness and reliability, Hood Tech launchers have initiated tens of thousands of flights under the extreme environments of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and aboard ships in the oceans around the globe.

Dr. Andy von Flotow founded Hood Technology in Hood River, Oregon in 1992. In addition to the design and manufacture of launch systems, Hood Technology:

- Provides zip test services for pre-flight safety verification of experimental aircraft and components.
- Owns and maintains a silent wind tunnel for measuring UAV engine and prop noise in accordance with MILSTD1474.
- Develops, tests, and manufactures stabilized imaging systems for a variety of UAVs
- Monitors blade vibrations in industrial turbines and jet engines, a diagnostic method for predicting possible future failures.

The Hood Tech web site is: www.hoodtech.com

Contact:
Cory Roeseler
Hood Tech
135 Country Club Road, Building A
Hood River, OR 97031
541-287-2255
[email protected]
http://www.hoodtech.com