NPR Morning Edition: This Defense Contractor Has A Green Side

January 22, 2013

Lots of companies make products that don't have much in common, but AeroVironment specializes in two products that are very different -- electric vehicle chargers, which keep cars like the Nissan Leaf on the road, and military drones. The Los Angeles-area firm is a leading manufacturer of small unmanned aircraft.

This unusual company was the creation of one unusual individual, Paul MacCready. He loved things that fly. "As a youngster, I was very interested in model airplanes, ornithopters, autogyros, helicopters, gliders, power planes ..." MacCready said at a TED conference in 2003, four years before his death.

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