SUNNYSIDEUP
Mission success 78
Last month’s Sunny Side Up looked at the difficulties facing the 24 hour solar flight. We are pleased to report the challenges were overcome and a successful flight was achieved. Meanwhile another record breaking solar powered flight was taking place sans pilot.
endurance (HALE) Unmanned Air System (UAS) back to earth after two weeks in the air - smashing a number of long-standing official and unofficial world records. Zephyr was launched on 09 July and flew above the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The Zephyr will have been aloft for 14 nights continuously, achieving the objective of the trial and setting a number of performance and altitude records.
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An official from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) the world air sports federation, has been monitoring progress at the Yuma Proving Ground and he looks set to be able to confirm a number of new world records.
This includes quadrupling its own unofficial world record for longest duration unmanned flight (82 hours, 37 minutes set in 2008) and surpassing the current official world record for the longest flight for an unmanned air system (set at 30 hours 24 minutes by Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4A Global Hawk on 22 March 2001). Zephyr will also have flown longer, non-stop and without refuelling, than any other aeroplane - having significantly passed the Rutan Voyager milestone of 9 days (216 hours) 3 minutes and 44 seconds airborne, set in December 1986.
Easy to transport in a standard road transport container, once launched Zephyr can remain above a general area for weeks, if not months, at a
inetiQ has landed the Zephyr, its solar powered high-altitude long
time delivering vital capability at a fraction of the cost of satellites and significantly more cost effectively than other ‘conventionally powered’ manned or unmanned aircraft. Zephyr does not need to return to base at regular intervals for re- fuelling or servicing and its zero emissions also make it exceptionally environmentally friendly.
For the trial in Yuma, Zephyr is carrying a communications payload configured to meet the needs of the UK Ministry of Defence. Potential commercial uses include environmental research; monitoring crops and pollution; providing tactical intelligence over disaster zones or forest fires; plus mobile communications in remote areas.
The brand-new ‘production ready’ Zephyr airframe incorporates totally new approaches to aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, avionics, flight controls, power system management, thermal control, ground control station design and payload, as well as overall operating processes.
QinetiQ also had to design for temperatures of around plus 40 degrees C on the ground to below minus 75 degrees C at altitude. The ever changing weather systems the Zephyr dealt with included storms and high winds - and Zephyr took them all in its stride. It is a truly fantastic achievement.
Launched by hand, the aircraft flies by day on solar power delivered by amorphous silicon solar arrays, supplied by Uni-Solar no thicker than sheets of paper that cover the aircraft’s wings. These are also used to recharge the lithium- sulphur batteries, supplied by Sion Power Inc, which are used to power the aircraft by night. Together they provide an extremely high power to weight ratio on a continuous day/night cycle, thereby delivering persistent on station capabilities.
Around 50% larger than the previous version, Zephyr incorporates an entirely new wing design with a total wingspan of 22.5m to accommodate more batteries that are combined with a totally new integrated power management system.
The entirely new aerodynamic shape also helps to reduce drag and improve performance. Zephyr’s ultra-lightweight carbon fibre design means it weighs in at just over 50Kg.
www.solar-pv-management.com Issue V 2010
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