The QinetiQ Zephyr unmanned solar plane has just shattered the world record for unmanned long duration flight by completing two weeks of non-stop flight at Yuma, Arizona, easily passing the previous official 30 hour record set back in 2001 by Northrop Grumman's RQ-4A Global Hawk. QinetiQ is a UK defence and research company that designed the Zephyr to be ultra-light, so light in fact that it is launched by five people holding it above their heads and trotting down the runway until the plane develops sufficient lift.
Ultra-thin amorphous silicon solar cells power the plane during daylight and charge lithium-sulphur batteries for night flight. It is designed to provide low-cost, non-stop surveillance for months over a local area, unlike low earth orbit satellites that pass over head in a few minutes and return only days later. Apart from military work, it could be used to provide emergency cell-phone communications in a disaster area, or performance atmospheric science monitoring.
The Zephyr’s 22.5m wingspan carries batteries, control and communication electronics, with low aerodynamic drag, a carbon-fiber structure and weighs only 53kg (118lb). It flew at an average of 30kph (18.7 mph), at an altitude of 18kms (59,000ft) during the 14 days and 24 minutes it stayed aloft.
Visit: http://www.qinetiq.com/
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