ScanEagle Sets Endurance Mark With Heavy Fuel
Wednesday January 17, 8:00 am ET

BINGEN, Wash., Insitu, Inc. (Bingen, WA), a pioneer developer of long-endurance, unmanned autonomous aircraft, announced today that it flew a heavy-fuel-engine equipped ScanEagle for 28 hours and 44 minutes using JP5.

Heavy fuel refers to the kerosene-based fuel used in diesel and/or jet aircraft engines such as JP5 and JP8. Military planners have put the development of a heavy-fuel capability for UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) as a high-priority to satisfy the safety concerns of naval operations and to streamline logistics challenges for remote deployments.

The previous longest flight on a ScanEagle was 22 hours and 10 minutes using gasoline. Insitu Project Manager Jeff Ratcliffe commented, "Endurance testing is a critical part of our development program. Initially there were concerns that we would lose endurance switching to heavy fuel. However, the team continues to develop new technologies and advancements which make milestones such as this possible. We have more than 500 hours of ground testing and 50 hours of flight testing, and we are on track to release this capability in 2007."

"We will continue to validate the configuration over a wide operating envelope. Historically, heavy fuel engines have been a challenge to operate in cold environments, but our endurance flight was conducted in temperatures ranging from -16 degrees C to -6 degrees C and we observed no problems," reported Insitu Senior Propulsion Engineer Paul Ffield.

ScanEagle is developed in partnership with The Boeing Company and is used to provide services for the US Marine Corps, US Navy, and Australian Army. ScanEagle has logged more than 30,000 hours of flight time since being deployed in 2004. The Block D configuration was modified with licensed technology from Sonex Research, Inc. (Annapolis, MD) and other enhancements developed by Insitu engineers. Sonex develops multi-fuel conversions for spark-ignition engines and has been working with Insitu during the past year on this development program funded through Insitu corporate investment.

About Insitu

Insitu, located in Bingen, Washington, develops Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for commercial and military applications. Insitu introduced the first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to cross the Atlantic Ocean and has partnered with Boeing to develop ScanEagle and Fugro Airborne Surveys to develop GeoRanger. For more information about the company, see www.insitu.com.

About Sonex

Sonex Research, Inc. (OTC: SONX - News), a leader in the field of combustion technology, is developing its patented Sonex Combustion System (SCS) piston-based technology for in-cylinder control of ignition and combustion, designed to increase fuel mileage and reduce emissions of internal combustion engines. Sonex plans to complete development, commercialize and market its Sonex Controlled Auto Ignition (SCAI) combustion process to the automotive industry to improve fuel efficiency of gasoline powered vehicles. Other SCS designs are being used to convert gasoline engines of various sizes to operate on safer, diesel-type "heavy fuels" for use in military and commercial applications requiring light weight and safe handling and storage of fuel, such as in UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). For more information about Sonex, see www.sonexresearch.com.

About Boeing

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $30.8 billion business. It provides network-centric system solutions to its global military, government, and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems; the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world's largest satellite manufacturer; a foremost developer of advanced concepts and technologies; a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense and Department of Homeland Security; NASA's largest contractor; and a global leader in sustainment solutions and launch services.

For More Information Contact:
Chesua Patte
Public Relations
Chesua.patte@insitu.com
+1-509-493-634