AstroFlight Sunrise
| AstroFlight Sunrise | |
|---|---|
| Role | Experimental aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | AstroFlight |
| Designer | Roland Boucher |
| First flight | 4 November 1974 |
| Status | Retired |
| Number built | 2 |
The AstroFlight Sunrise was an unmanned experimental electric aircraft technology demonstrator and the first aircraft to fly on solar power.
First conceived in November 1970, the Sunrise first flew on 4 November 1974 from Bicycle Lake, a dry lakebed on the Fort Irwin Military Reservation. The first prototype was destroyed on its 28th flight by turbulence. The improved Sunrise II flew the following year.
While working as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft, Roland Boucher began design work on an electric-powered aircraft concept in November 1970, calculating that the contemporary nickel-cadmium batteries available would be sufficient to sustain flight using a radio-control model glider. Early experimental projects proved the concept sound and in 1973 Boucher turned his attention to the creation of a high-altitude solar-powered aircraft that would have unlimited endurance.
Boucher explained the project to his superiors at Hughes Aircraft in 1972 and after reviewing it, the company released the project to Boucher in 1973. Boucher took a leave of absence from Hughes to pursue the project and joined his brother, Bob Boucher, at AstroFlight, a small model airplane manufacturer in Venice, California. After successfully flying an electric drone carrying a 5 lb (2 kg) payload on a DARPA project for Northrop Corporation, they then moved onto Project Sunrise.
Using commercially available off-the-shelf solar cells producing only 10% efficiency, Boucher calculated that his project would need to be able to fly on about 0.5 kW (0.7 hp). The aircraft was envisioned as an unmanned sailplane that would have an operating altitude of 73,000 ft (22,250 m), powered by a single Samarium–cobalt magnet electric motor, the first motor of its kind in the world. The aircraft would use no batteries and, instead, would descend at night from its operating altitude to about 10,000 ft (3,048 m) at dawn, before solar energy was once again available for climb.
...
Wikipedia