An American HPA Takes Flight

Dean Sigler Biofuels, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Alec Proudfoot made a 233-meter (764-feet), 37-second flight in his DaSH PA (Dead Simple Human-Powered Airplane) on December 4 at Half Moon Bay Airport west of San Francisco.  The 33.3 meter (108.27 feet) wingspan (it can be extended to 40 meters, or 131.23 feet) aircraft did well until a weak flange on the vertical tail mount failed. Alec reported his personal state of readiness and some details of the flight in an email to the British Human Powered Flying Club.  “…pilot max weight at just above 90 kg (me, out of shape and about 15 lbs. heavier than optimal). “It flew a lot easier than expected (meaning less power required than I thought it would) and handled great. A bit of PIO (pilot-induced oscillation) in the middle of the flight as I sorted out the handling (we slowed the servos way down to avoid moving our delicate control surfaces too fast — but we need to speed them back up …

A Twin-Motored Ultralight Flying Wing – It’s the New Millennium

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Richard Glassock, an Australian now living and working in Hungary, sent the links to YouTube videos of a Millennium hang glider, neatly electrified and flown at this year’s Santa Cruz Salt Flats Race.  Richard has been a speaker at the Electric Aircraft Symposium with a talk on his efforts with small hybrid electric power systems for large-scale models and small aircraft. Steve Morris, co-designer of the Millennium along with Ilan Kroo, Brian Porter, Brian Robbins, and Erik Beckman helped develop this rigid-wing hang glider to offer a lighter, more portable version of Swift.  Steve reported on his electric-powered Swift at the 2010 Electric Aircraft Symposium. Ilan Kroo reflected on the idea of practical, powered ultralight sailplanes in his American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics paper on the design of the Swift.  “With refinements in aerodynamic control and composite structures, hang gliders will continue to evolve toward more soarable foot-launched sailplanes. If one does not constrain the designs to be able …

The Autonomous Swift

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants Leave a Comment

There were two presentations on the Swift ultralight flying wing at this year’s Electric Aircraft Symposium.  Dr Steve Morris of the MLB Company related the flight testing of a manned version of the craft, which had been and is being modified by a group of NASA researchers.  That NASA team presented material on the unmanned version of the Swift, as modified to allow autonomous flight.  Three industrious and inventive souls, Corey Ipollito, Paul Espinosa, and Al Weston, presented their work on the Swift Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), which they are undertaking with a small team of experts as a mostly volunteer effort at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California.  Ilan Kroo’s famous design has had many variants, including several others electrically powered, but none quite as sophisticated, and none with the range of missions envisioned for the craft by this trio.  The airplane, test flown in December 2009 by Brian Porter for MLB, carried its human payload for …