If San Diego had a museum of industrial design, Gad Shaanan’s work would be in it.
His design firm developed the Smart Straw applicator system for San Diego-based WD-40 Company (NASDAQ: WDFC).
CEO
Unmanned Aerospace
The La Jolla resident also developed mobile phone handsets for San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) – long ago in the days when Qualcomm made phones. The work continued for Kyocera after the Japanese firm bought the handset business.
Now Shaanan is at work on a new project, one with a distinct San Diego stamp. It is an unmanned aircraft company called Unmanned Aerospace.
This is his fifth startup, and the 69-year-old Shaanan says it will be his last.
Its inaugural product is the GH-4, a 95-pound gyrocopter capable of carrying a 15 pound payload from shore to a distant ship. The payload would be suspended under the aircraft’s belly. The aircraft could travel 150 miles to a ship and then return to its shore base. Alternately, it could ferry cargo 300 miles from ship to ship.
Shaanan wants to do bigger and smaller models, able to deliver payloads of 60 pounds and 10 pounds.
Gyrocopter With a Fuel Cell
Shaanan has a handful of employees spread over the world. His home base is an airplane hangar which serves as a shop. Model aircraft hang on the wall. On a weekday in mid-August, an assistant was working on software for the gyrocopter’s autopilot. A prototype sat nearby.
Though the GH-4 looks like a helicopter, the main rotor is motorized only during VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) and hover. In forward flight it rotates freely while two smaller, forward facing thrusters run under electric power. This patented system saves power while increasing flight stability.
The gyrocopter concept is now 100 years old. The craft does what a helicopter does without a helicopter’s weight and complexity, Shaanan said. If its propulsion fails, it can glide to a landing.
A hydrogen fuel cell will power the aircraft, Shaanan said, indicating the location of the fuel tank in the carbon fiber aircraft body.
Shaanan has two patents related to the design; the patent office is reviewing what could be a third patent.
Military and Commercial Applications
Unmanned Aerospace’s advisory board includes two retired U.S. Navy officers, who are very familiar with what one potential client is looking for. Board member Jim Rodman was chief engineer of the Navy’s IT, communications and cybersecurity command, which is now called NAVWAR. Scott Tait served as commander of the Navy’s most futuristic ship, the destroyer USS Zumwalt (aka DDG 1000).
At one point, Shaanan traveled to Key West, Florida with the GH-4 prototype and brought it on board the expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Burlington. There he discussed its capabilities with leaders in the Navy’s Fourth Fleet.
“The opportunities here are huge,” Shaanan said. “The applications are endless.”
He said he has spoken with a large retailer about using the GH-4 for delivery.
In addition to package delivery, corporations could use the drone to inspect their assets such as pipelines, dams and railroad lines, Shaanan said. Ranchers could use it to monitor livestock.
Potential customers would likely be attracted to the invention’s money saving potential. The GH-4 costs hundreds of dollars to operate per hour, Shaanan said, while a conventional helicopter costs thousands.
Coming Out of Retirement
Shaanan said he retired five years ago and got bored, “really bored.” He started Unmanned Aerospace in 2019.
“This is not work,” he said at his hangar. “This is fun, passion.”
If Unmanned Aerospace advances successfully, the business may become another member of San Diego’s cadre of UAS builders. Privately held General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. builds its Predator family of aircraft in Poway. Big defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) oversees unmanned aircraft programs in Rancho Bernardo. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ: KTOS) of Scripps Ranch owns a subsidiary that builds target drones and unmanned jets in Sacramento and Oklahoma.
Spider Boot
Shannan’s work, incidentally, is already in a major museum.
New York’s Museum of Modern Art has his Spider Boot in its collection.
The Spider Boot attaches to a soldier’s regular boot to protect its wearer from antipersonnel mines. It puts the foot on a raised platform. Two supports jut forward from the boot’s toe. Another two supports jut backward from the boot’s heel. This distributes the soldier’s weight differently and gets the sole of the boot off the ground. Even a distance of a few inches can minimize shock and damage from a detonating explosive.
Unmanned Aerospace
FOUNDED: 2019
CEO: Gad Shaanan
HEADQUARTERS: San Diego
BUSINESS: Developer of small unmanned aircraft for package delivery or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
REVENUE: Pre-revenue
EMPLOYEES: 5
WEBSITE: unmanned-aerospace.com
CONTACT: gad@unmanned-aerospace.com
NOTABLE: Gad Shaanan came out of retirement following a successful career as an industrial designer to start Unmanned Aerospace, his fifth startup
