Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review, April 2, 2021

Sunglider builds on legacy of solar aircraft

by Jay Levine AeroVironment has been working on solar aircraft for more than
NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center 40 years. The solar powered and human piloted Gossamer Penguin
flew on July 25, 1980, from Roger’s Dry Lakebed near Armstrong.
A remotely piloted solar aircraft has demonstrated it can hover During the next four decades, the company’s remotely piloted fam-
in the stratosphere to provide cellular networks in isolated areas. ily of solar-powered aircraft made ever higher altitude flights and
It also demonstrated remote sensing and observation capabilities. capability demonstrations. The Helios Prototype reached a record
That aircraft is the Sunglider. AeroVironment Inc. of Simi Valley, altitude for a propeller-driven vehicle of 96,863 feet on Aug. 13,
Calif., which has a long history of working with NASA’s Arm- 2001, beating a previous record set by the company.
strong Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. Many of AeroVironment’s solar powered aircraft such as the
The two groups have collaborated in efforts to complete prelimi- Pathfinder, Pathfinder-Plus, Centurion and Helios flew as part
nary flight tests to prepare for reaching ever more complex goals of NASA’s Environmental Research and Sensor Technology pro-
with solar powered aircraft. Sunglider is a product of HAPS Mobile gram managed at Armstrong. An initial goal of that program was to
develop science instruments for studying the stratosphere. Another
Inc., which is a subsidiary of Softbank Corp. and minority-owned focus became development and demonstration of technology for
by AeroVironment. enabling a new class of aircraft capable of flying high altitude, long
duration Earth science and environmental missions.

Adding to the legacy
The Sunglider follows in the traditions of AeroVironment’s his-
tory in solar remotely piloted aircraft, but is considered a high-
altitude platform system, or HAPS vehicle. It is with Sunglider that
the company flew to 62,500 feet for more than five hours during a
20 hour mission on Sept. 21, 2020. Solar batteries power the aircraft NASA photograph by Tony Landis
during the day and collect and store energy for use at night. The Pathfinder solar-powered remotely piloted aircraft climbs
The Sunglider is very long, with a wingspan of 262 feet. By to a record-setting altitude of 50,567 feet during a flight Sept.
comparison, a Boeing 747 has a wingspan of about 229 feet. It 11, 1995, at NASA’s Armstrong (then Dryden) Flight Research
also has 10 electric motors that propel the aircraft at about 40 mph. Center, Edwards, Calif.
“Sunglider’s motor technology has advanced through multiple
generations of improvement since the Pathfinder-Plus and the Helios Silicon Valley. The two other goals were validating aircraft systems
Prototype,” said Peter De Baets, AeroVironment senior director. operating in the stratosphere and confirming operations.
“As a result, we have an increase in efficiency and capability. As an Before the flight operations moved to New Mexico, the
example, Helios was a much lighter aircraft and needed 14 motors. AeroVironment team brought the Sunglider, then called Hawk30,
Sunglider only needs 10. That gives you an idea of how much more for multiple initial low altitude flight tests at Armstrong in 2019.
NASA photograph capable today’s materials and technologies are.” “Those flights verified the basic performance and handling char-
The solar powered and human piloted Gossamer Penguin flies The September mission based at Spaceport America in New Mex- acteristics that showed us we could operate the aircraft safely and
in 1980 from NASA’s Armstrong (then Dryden) Flight Research ico had three focus areas. The first was connectivity, acting as a cen- effectively,” said Nick Plumb, AeroVironment program manager.
Center in Edwards, Calif. tral communication point in a network, De Baets said. The aircraft’s
cellular network payload linked teams in Tokyo, New Mexico and See SOLAR, Page 7

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