DARPA considering a plane that would fly non-stop for five years
What would you think if we told you that DARPA is considering a plane that would fly non-stop for 5 years without burning a single drop of fuel? They are, and it's called the Vulture program, which aims to produce an aircraft able to carry a 1,000 pound payload, pump out 5kW of onboard power, and keep up enough speed to withstand the winds it'll encounter at 60,000 to 90,000 feet.
How does DARPA think that the Vulture should be powered? There are currently three options under consideration. The first one is nuclear and - wait, this is not under consideration. The second one is to refuel the aircraft in flight. This favors fuel cells because they are more efficient and reliable than internal-combustion and gas-turbine engines. The other option is solar energy, either solar thermal, which is unproven, or solar electric, which is a proven technology.
[Source: Flight Global via Engadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jim 10:15AM (3/08/2008)
I've been on an operational prototype. We sat on the runway for about 9 hours
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armmat 2:07PM (3/08/2008)
Another great way to piss away hard working people's tax dollars...it's nice to know someone at AeroVironment is getting paid to do nothing.
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The Luigiian 3:04PM (3/08/2008)
Cool, but what does this have to do with cars?
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GenWaylaid 6:13PM (3/08/2008)
Well, imagine a car that could drive continuously for five years--at sixty to ninety thousand feet, mind you. We'll have to build some really elevated highways.
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rgseidl 6:05AM (3/09/2008)
@ the Luigiian -
any PV-powered plane designed to stay aloft during the night will need very lightweight batteries. Add a five-year life expectancy and you're talking close to 2000 cycles with high depth of discharge.
Also, autonomous aircraft that can stay aloft for extended periods of time have civilian as well as military applications. Examples include continuous traffic monitoring, remote sensing of local CO2 and other emissions and, local broadband wireless telecommunications for e.g. videoconferencing and on-board entertainment in public transport systems. All of these would indirectly contribute toward reducing CO2 emissions from the transportation sector.
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Titi 11:50AM (3/09/2008)
At least it's more innovative that what Virgin Atlantic is doing...
Here's a blog that i personnaly find ridiculously naive because they think that biofuels will soon power aircrafts...
http://www.e-citizen.tv/wordpress/2008/03/02/richard-branson-virgin-atlantic-avions-biocarburant/langswitch_lang/en/
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Tormod Henne 9:30AM (3/10/2008)
A PV plane would work great here up north in the summertime with the midnight sun :-D! Not so much fun during winter, though :-/
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Al 5:04PM (3/13/2008)
This truly is a pie in the sky pissing away of otherwise useful technology! I'm sure the prototype specifications call for high efficiency solar cells typically used in space. These cells, which could effectively power cars like this http://www.physicslablh.com/futureDesign.htm are currently only being sold to the military contractors (in spite of the tax dollars used to fund the research needed to develop them) and huge utility outfits.
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