Solar Challenger

Infobox Aircraft
name = Solar Challenger



caption = A drawing of the Solar Challenger
type = experimental aircraft
national origin = United States
manufacturer = AeroVironment
designer = Paul MacCready
first flight = 1981
introduction =
retired =
status = museum piece
primary user =
more users =
produced =
number built = 1
program cost =
unit cost =
developed from = Gossamer Penguin
variants with their own articles =

Solar Challenger was a solar-powered electric aircraft designed by Paul MacCready's AeroVironment. The aircraft was designed as an improvement on the Gossamer Penguin, which in turn was a solar-powered variant of the human-powered Gossamer Albatross.Citation | last = Goebel | first = Greg | title = "Solar-Powered UAVS: HALSOL & Solar HAPP", The Prehistory Of Endurance UAVs | url = http://www.vectorsite.net/twuav_12.html#m3 | accessdate = 2008-08-13] It was powered entirely by the photovoltaic cells on its wing and stabilizer, without even reserve batteries, and was the first such craft capable of long-distance flight.Citation | last = Lindsey | first = Robert | title = Physicist's Solar Airplane Set to Challenge the English Channel | newspaper = New York Times | date = June 9, 1981 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D07EFD61238F93AA35755C0A967948260&scp=1&sq=solar%20challenger&st=cse ] In 1981, it successfully completed a 163 mile (262km) demonstration flight from France to England.Citation | title = Solar-Power Research and Dryden | publisher = Dryden Flight Research Center, NASA | url = http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-054-DFRC.html | accessdate = 2008-08-13]

History

The Solar Challenger was designed by Paul McCready as a more airworthy improvement on the Gossamer Penguin, directly incorporating lessons learned from flight testing the earlier aircraft. As with the Gossamer Penguin, construction was sponsored by Dupont in exchange for publicity for the company's patented materials incorporated in the design. AstroFlight, Inc. supplied the motors, which were designed by Robert Boucher. On July 7, 1981, the aircraft flew 163 miles from Corneille-en-Verin Airport, north of Paris, France to Manston Royal Air Force Base in Manston, United Kingdom, staying aloft 5 hours and 23 minutes, with pilot Stephen Ptacek at the controls. Currently the plane is owned by the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum.Citation | title = Solar-Plane Sets Height Record | newspaper = Space Daily | year = 1998 | date = August 6, 1998 | url = http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarcell-98f.html | accessdate = 2008-08-13.]

Design

The Solar Challenger was designed to be sturdier, more powerful, and more maneuverable than the Gossamer Penguin so as to be able to withstand sustained high altitude flight and normal turbulence. It was over three times as heavy (without pilot) as the Gossamer Penguin and had a shorter wingspan, but was proportionately more powerful, with electricity supplied by 16,128 solar cells powering two three-horsepower motors. The solar panels were directly affixed to the wing and large horizontal stabilizer, both of which had to be flat on top to accommodate them. The two motors, each 3 inches wide and 17 inches long and incorporating cobalt and samarium permanent magnets, operated in tandem on a common shaft to drive a single, controllable pitch propeller. The design incorporated advanced synthetic materials with very high strength to weight ratios, including Kevlar, Nomex, Delrin, Teflon, and Mylar, all supplied by the aircraft's sponsor, Dupont.

pecifications

aerospecs
ref=
met or eng?=eng

crew=One
capacity=
length m=8.8
length ft=29
length in=
span m=14.3
span ft=47
span in=
swept m=
swept ft=
swept in=
rot number=
rot dia m=
rot dia ft=
rot dia in=
dia m=
dia ft=
dia in=
width m=
width ft=
width in=
height m=
height ft=
height in=
wing area sqm=
wing area sqft=
swept area sqm=
swept area sqft=
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
volume m3=
volume ft3=
aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=90
empty weight lb=200
gross weight kg=
gross weight lb=
lift kg=
lift lb=

eng1 number=2
eng1 type=solar-powered electric motors
eng1 kw=2.2
eng1 hp=3
eng1 kn=
eng1 lbf=
eng1 kn-ab=
eng1 lbf-ab=
eng2 number=
eng2 type=
eng2 kw=
eng2 hp=
eng2 kn=
eng2 lbf=
eng2 kn-ab=
eng2 lbf-ab=

max speed kmh=64
max speed mph=40
max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
stall speed kmh=
stall speed mph=
range km=
range miles=
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=4,270
ceiling ft=14,000
g limits=
roll rate=
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=0.765
climb rate ftmin=150
sink rate ms=
sink rate ftmin=

armament1=
armament2=
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6=

References

External links

* [http://donaldmonroe.com/gallery/index.php?album=solar-challenger Gallery of photographs of Solar Challenger]