Posts Tagged ‘flight’
Solar UAV Flight (Landing)
Solar Powered UAV as Senior Design Project for UNLV, designed by myself (Louis Dube) and Corey Ohnstad
Duration : 0:0:21
Piccard unveils solar plane prototype
Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard has been dreaming for years of becoming the first pilot to circumnavigate the earth using solar energy alone. The dream has come one step nearer to reality with the unveiling of the Solar Impulse, the prototype of a plane that has taken six years to design and build. (Julie Hunt, SF1, swissinfo.ch)
Duration : 0:4:23
RC Solar Powered Plane Video UAV.Solar Power Flight: Pathfinder Plus & Helios
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/NASA45/textonly/history.html
The Pathfinder-Plus solar powered aircraft set a new altitude record of 80,201 feet in 1998. Another unique solar-powered flying wing called Helios soared to 96,863 feet in 2001.
Duration : 0:1:11
Yuneec Chinese Electric Airplane Info & First Flight
http://www.avweb.com
Glenn Pew reports on the Yuneec E430 Chinese Electric Airplane 54 hp two seat aircraft currently undergoing first flight and flight tests, summer 2009. Yuneec joins Randall Fishman’s ElectraFlyer-C in taking the first steps toward practical electric flight on the eve of the unveiling of Solar Impulse — an enormous aircraft that seeks to fulfill the enormous goal of 24-hour sustained solar powered flight.
http://www.glennpew.com
Duration : 0:3:38
Centurion solar-powered high-altitude aircraft in flight
Since 1980 AeroVironment, Inc. (founded in 1971 by the ultra-light airplane innovator–Dr. Paul MacCready) has been experimenting with solar-powered aircraft, often in conjunction with the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. Thus far, AeroVironment, now headquartered in Monrovia, California, has achieved several altitude records with its Solar Challenger, Pathfinder, and Pathfinder-Plus aircraft. It expects to exceed these records with the newer and larger solar-powered Centurion and its successors the Centelios and Helios vehicles, in the NASA Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program.
The Centurion is a lightweight, solar-powered, remotely piloted flying wing aircraft that is demonstrating the technology of applying solar power for long-duration, high-altitude flight. It is considered to be a prototype technology demonstrator for a future fleet of solar-powered aircraft that could stay airborne for weeks or months on scientific sampling and imaging missions or while serving as telecommunications relay platforms. Although it shares many of the design concepts of the Pathfinder, the Centurion has a wingspan of 206 feet, more than twice the 98-foot span of the original Pathfinder and 70-percent longer than the Pathfinder-Plus’ 121-foot span. At the same time, Centurion maintains the 8-foot chord (front to rear distance) of the Pathfinder wing, giving the wing an aspect ratio (length-to-chord) of 26 to 1.
Other visible changes from its predecessor include a modified wing airfoil designed for flight at extreme altitude and four underwing pods to support its landing gear and electronic systems (compared with two such pods on the Pathfinder). The flexible wing is primarily fabricated from carbon fiber, graphite epoxy composites, and kevlar. It is built in five sections, a 44-foot-long center section and middle and outer sections just over 40 feet long. All five sections have an identical thickness–12 percent of the chord, or about 11.5 inches, with no taper or sweep.
Solar arrays that will cover most of the upper wing surface will provide up to 31 kilowatts of power at high noon on a summer day to power the aircraft’s 14 electric motors, avionics, communications and other electronic systems. Centurion also has a backup lithium battery system that can provide power for between two and five hours to allow limited-duration flight after dark. Initial low-altitude test flights at Dryden in 1998 were conducted on battery power alone, prior to installation of the solar cell arrays.
Centurion flies at an airspeed of only 17 to 21 mph, or about 15 to 18 knots. Although pitch control is maintained by the use of a full-span 60-segment elevator on the trailing edge of the wing, turns and yaw control are accomplished by applying differential power — slowing down or speeding up the motors — on the outboard sections of the wing.
The video clip depicts the aircraft on the lakebed prior to and during its first low-altitude check flight under battery power on November 10, 1998.
Duration : 0:0:21
Solar craft flies through two nights
For the first time a solar powered plane has flown through two consecutive nights, says UK defence research company QinetiQ.
Read more – http://snipurl.com/1qiqy – on a flight that is one step towards solar-powered craft that never land.
Video: QinetiQ – www.qinetiq.com
Duration : 0:0:42
Solar-powered Plane Readies for Flight
TechnologySolar-powered Plane Readies for FlightSolar-powered Plane Readies for FlightThe Associated PressSolar-powered flight is a step closer to reality. A group of Swiss adventurers are hard at work on the Solar Impulse, a zero-emission airplane powered entirely by the sun. (May 22)Solar-powered flight is a step closer to reality. Several Swiss adventurers are hard at work on the Solar Impulse, a zero-emission airplane powered entirely by the sun. They promote renewable energies as they push technology to new limits. Testing on the aircraft is being conducted with computer simulations. And pilots are able to maneuver it in a variety of environments – including night flight – a considerable challenge for a plane powered by sunlight. The plane itself is little more than a giant wing – a giant array of solar cells – and a tiny compartment for the pilot. [Notes:SOT Andre Borschberg, pilot]“TODAY WE CAN TRANSPORT ONE PERSON WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY, AND OF COURSE WE HOPE IN THE FUTURE, MAYBE WITH DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES WE CAN TRANSPORT 300 PERSONS USING ONLY RENEWABLE ENERGIES TO PROPEL THE AEROPLANE.”But for now, the Solar Impulse has only one seat. It is hoped that it will be ready for its maiden flight later this year, with the first night flight scheduled for 2009. ___ ___, The Associated Press.(****END****)
Duration : 0:1:3
Solar Electric Powered Flight
Glenn Pew interviews Eric Raymond. Eric has been flying his battery launched solar assisted sailplane since the late ’80s. He knows the road to progress doesn’t come as bolts of lightning in time but through years of small steps. Glenn Pew caught up with Eric to learn about Sunseeker the Solar Impulse project and more…
http://www.glennpew.com
Duration : 0:8:48