A Family-owned SME
It’s well known that it is often small businesses that succeed in advancing technology. In the village of Saint-Joseph de Coleraine, nestled in the mountains of Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, a small company that employs a dozen people is preparing to mark a new milestone in the world of drones: deliver the first vertical take-off and landing aircraft with a payload of 90 kg.

When brothers David and Enrick Laflamme graduated in mechanical engineering, they returned to their home village to assist their father machinist. He was working on the design of a two-seater helicopter that could be operated in the category of amateur built aircraft. But in 2004, the project was abandoned because the cost would have been too high compared to the size of the potential market.

The two brothers started an engineering consulting business that allowed them to establish themselves as engineers. But their goal was always to start a manufacturing company. In 2010, they became interested in drones because it is a market with enormous potential and many opportunities. They chose to focus on the development of a vertical take-off and landing drone with payloads between 75kg and 100kg.

The lack of regulation
In 2012, the word "drone" was virtually unknown to the general public and Transport Canada had only two inspectors for all of Canada. When the two Laflamme brothers met Transport Canada for the first time to learn how to develop and certify a drone with a total weight of nearly 300kg, no one knew exactly what to do. Transport Canada’s limited resources for the nascent UAV industry were also a drag on the process.

The Laflammes had the smart idea of using Chapter 527of the Canadian Aviation Regulations for Helicopter Certification. They applied all the standards and load factors of this regulation to design their first drone. The adoption of this rigorous approach pleased Transport Canada, which is now working to put in place regulations for the LX300 category, which is the first UAV designed in Canada to weigh more than 200kg.

The LX300
The Laflamme brothers did not start from scratch. They were able to use much of the work and experience gained from their father’s two-seater helicopter project. The shape of the LX300 is very similar to that of the famous Chinook military transport helicopter manufactured by Boeing. Surprisingly, apart from the size and weight of the LX300, the only other feature that sets it apart from the big Chinook, which weighs 22,680kg, is the absence of a pilot. The LX300 is truly designed as a classic helicopter and has all the elements, including the famous swashplate. It also has an inertial navigation unit and a GPS.

Unlike smaller drones, the LX300 is not equipped with an experimental engine. It has a Rotax 912 engine that is already certified for ultra-light class aircraft. This avoids having to worry about engine certification while having maintenance intervals at 2,000 hours which significantly reduces the cost of maintenance.

With an autonomy of up to 8 hours and a range of 150km, the LX300 can be used for border surveillance and by police forces for security purposes. It can also inspect pipelines, power lines or offshore wind farms. It can perform agricultural spreading and there are military applications that could be developed.

Progression
Things have changed since the Laflamme brothers’ first contacts with Transport Canada. Now there are several Transport Canada? teams dedicated to drones on Canadian territory. Things are accelerating quickly: the LX300 made its first flights in
September 2018 and the first delivery to a customer should take place in 2020. Since there are no comprehensive certification rules, there is no question of obtaining a type certificate that would be applicable to all LX300. For the moment, Transport Canada will issue one certificate at a time, clearing the way for the first customers to gain experience in drone operations.