Breaking News - Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation

Zephyr at YPG Sets World Record for Longest Unmanned Flight

Jul. 23rd, 2010
James Gilbert

A British-built, solar-powered aircraft that has been flying continuously for the past two weeks in the skies above the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground has set the official world record for the longest flight for an unmanned aircraft. According to YPG test officer Matthew O'Donald, the Zephyr made a successful landing at YPG's Castle Dome Heliport at 7:03 a.m. Friday, having been airborne for 14 days and 23 minutes. “It was like a feather coming down out of the sky,” O'Donald said. “Everything went flawlessly. It was also the aircraft's maiden voyage.” A high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft, the Zephyr is being developed by defense contractor QinetiQ for use by the military to fly above a battlefield or other area of interest for weeks or months to provide surveillance or communications. The Zephyr was launched at 6:41 a.m. July 9 with the objective of setting a number of performance and altitude records. O'Donald added that during the 14-day flight, the Zephyr stayed entirely within the 2,000 square miles of airspace controlled by YPG, reaching altitudes as high as 70,000 feet. “It is the lower reaches of space. It is high enough to see the curve of the world.” An official from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has been at YPG monitoring the operations during the flight, so it will go in the record books as an official world record. The flight smashed a number of long-standing official and unofficial world records. O'Donald said the Zephyr flew on autopilot for most of the test flight and was only operated remotely via satellite by testers from YPG and QinetiQ as necessary. “It was pretty much 'round the clock. We had nonstop operations the past two weeks.” The Zephyr quadrupled its own unofficial world record for longest duration unmanned flight (82 hours, 37 minutes set in 2008) when it flew at YPG last year, and surpassed the current official world record for the longest flight for an unmanned air system (set at 30 hours, 24 minutes by Northrop Grumman's RQ-4A Global Hawk on March 22, 2001). It has now also flown longer, nonstop and without refuelling, than any other airplane – having significantly passed the Rutan Voyager milestone of 9 days (216 hours) 3 minutes and 44 seconds airborne, set in December 1986. According to QinetiQ's website, the British-made plane, which has wingspan of 73 feet and weighs 110 pounds, can stay in the air for so long because it is powered by the sun. Extremely thin and light solar panels cover its wings and are used to recharge lithium-sulphur batteries, which are used to power the aircraft's engines at night. And with a 73-foot wingspan, the Zephyr has a lot of surface for solar panels and a lot of lift relative to its weight thanks to a carbon-fiber body. O'Donald said QinetiQ plans on returning to YPG sometime next year to continue testing.

James Gilbert
Sun Staff Writer
The Sun
Jul. 23rd, 2010

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