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A Review of Solar-Powered Aircraft Flight Activity at the Pacific Missile Range Test Facility, Kauai, HawaiiA series of solar-powered aircraft have been designed and operated by AeroVironment, Inc. (Monrovia, CA) as a part of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) objectives to develop energy-efficient high-altitude long-endurance platforms for earth observations and communications applications. Flight operations have been conducted at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards CA and at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Barking Sands, Kauai, HI. These aircraft flown at PMRF are named Pathfinder , Pathfinder Plus and Helios . Sizes of these three aircraft range from 560 lb with a 99-ft wingspan to 2300 lb with a 247-ft wingspan. Available payload capacity reaches approximately 200 lb. Pathfinder uses six engines and propellers: Pathfinder Plus 8; and Helios 14. The 2003 Helios fuel cell configurations used 10 engines and propellers. The PMRF was selected as a base of operations because if offers optimal summertime solar exposure, low prevailing wind-speeds on the runway, modest upper-air wind-speeds and the availability of suitable airspace. Between 1997 and 2001, successive altitude records of 71,530 ft, 80,200 ft, and 96,863 ft were established. Flight durations extended to 18 hours.
Document ID
20040095939
Acquisition Source
Armstrong Flight Research Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Ehernberger, L. J. (NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Edwards, CA, United States)
Donohue, Casey (NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Edwards, CA, United States)
Teets, Edward H., Jr. (NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Edwards, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Subject Category
Aircraft Design, Testing And Performance
Meeting Information
Meeting: 11h AMS Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology
Location: Hyannis, MA
Country: United States
Start Date: October 4, 2004
End Date: October 8, 2004
Sponsors: American Meteorological Society
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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