On Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, Nicholas (Nik) J. Coates, Vice President of Partnerships at Rotor Technologies, gave a presentation at the Aviation Museum of N.H. about the capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles and how they have the potential to transform the aviation sector, especially where safety is concerned.
Coates answered a range of audience questions and explained how Rotor was started by a group of young engineers and scientists after one of its founders had a near miss during a helicopter flight lesson.
As a result, Rotor was born in Nashua, N.H., and has been steadily growing its fleet of specially tailored Robinson helicopters that can be flown from the ground—or even in your pajamas! The talk was part of the Aviation Museum’s ‘Exploring Aviation’ presentation series.
Below: the press release announcing the presentation.
Learn about the world of unmanned aircraft when Rotor Technologies, Inc. touches down on Thursday, Feb. 19 at the Aviation Museum of N.H.
Can you guess New Hampshire’s largest export business? If you said the aerospace sector, you’re correct. One Granite business that’s part of the state’s future-facing aviation industry is Rotor Technologies, Inc., a Nashua-based manufacturer of unmanned helicopters.
You might wonder why someone would want an unmanned helicopter. It turns out that there are a lot of reasons why, especially when it comes to hazardous job conditions such as carrying cargo in disaster zones or to offshore oil rigs, or to fight wildfires, diminishing the dangers to human pilots.
To learn more about how Rotor Technologies’ autonomous aircraft are working towards these applications, join Nicholas ‘Nik’ Coates, the firm’s Vice President of Partnerships, on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Aviation Museum of N.H., 27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, N.H.
The presentation, part of the museum’s ‘Exploring Aviation’ lecture series, is open to the public. Admission is $10 per person; Aviation Museum members may attend free.
Rotor Technologies is in the process of developing aircraft for multiple purposes.
But for right now, the company is focused on missions with their ‘Airtruck’ utility helicopter, with a secondary focus on agricultural applications such as crop dusting, another potentially dangerous sector of the aviation industry.
Dozens of accidents take place each year when crop dusting planes collide with power lines, cell towers, and other aircraft.
In 2025, Rotor announced two new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) models: the Airtruck, which can handle more than 1,000 pounds of payload; and Sprayhawk, an agricultural UAV with 110-gallon capacity.
Airtruck and Sprayhawk, both based on the Robinson R44 full-scale helicopter, have a maximum takeoff weight of 2,500 pounds each, making them the largest civilian drones available to purchase in the world.
Rotor Technologies was founded in 2021 by Hector Xu, a former MIT-based scientist, where he led the development and successful flight of the first ion-propelled airplane.
Rotor’s approach focuses first on bringing autonomous aircraft to critical and dangerous missions, while developing the technological foundation for the autonomous transport of cargo and passengers.
Coates will give an overview on how Rotor got started, why UAVs are useful, and a bit about how they function on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Aviation Museum of N.H., 27 Navigator Road, Londonderry.
The presentation, part of the Aviation Museum’s ‘Exploring Aviation’ lecture series, is open to the public. Admission is $10 per person; Aviation Museum members admitted free.
For more information, call (603) 669-4877 or email ldearborn@nhahs.org. Follow the Aviation Museum on social media at www.facebook.com/nhahs.