The Helios Prototype was the fourth and final aircraft developed as part of an evolutionary series of solar- and fuel-cell-system-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. And nobody build an airplane with solar cells that flies to space. The Helios Prototype flying wing is shown moments after takeoff, beginning its first test flight on solar power from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. Details are here. Equipped with an experimental fuel cell system to power the aircraft at night, the solar-electric Helios Prototype is shown during a checkout flight prior to its long-endurance flight demonstration in the summer of 2003. Frequently, the question arises as to what airfoil or airfoils were used in the wing design of a particular aircraft. Speeding up the outer-panel motors caused the aircraft to pitch down and begin a descent. ).The distance between the neutral point (quarter chord point for an unswept wing) and the center of gravity is defining the amount of stability - if the c.g. [1], On June 26, 2003, the Helios Prototype broke up and fell into the Pacific Ocean about ten miles (16 km) west of the Hawaiian Island Kauai during a remotely piloted systems checkout flight in preparation for an endurance test scheduled for the following month.[5]. The Langley airfoil design, technically known as RC4, has managed to “lift off” and find much success in other applications. On August 13, 2001,[1] the Helios Prototype piloted remotely by Greg Kendall reached an altitude of 96,863 feet (29,524 m), a world record for sustained horizontal flight by a winged aircraft. The SC1094 R8 airfoil covers the midsection of the blade from 0.48R to 0.84R. The Helios is an unmanned solar powered aircraft, with a gigantic wingspan of 247 feet. Unfortunately, the program suffered a major setback when the Helios experienced control difficulties while on a checkout flight on June 26, 2003, and the aircraft suffered some structural failures and was subsequently destroyed when it fell into the Pacific Ocean about 10 miles west of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. A major test during the initial flight series was the evaluation of differential motor power as a means of pitch control. The Helios Prototype aircraft in a northerly climb over Niihau Island, Hawaii, at about 8,000 feet above sea level. NASA-Office of Space Science Applications (United States) Carson Helicopters Inc. licensed the Langley RC4 series of airfoils in 1993—2 years after the Comanche project commenced—and began development of a replacement main rotor blade for their helicopters. I guess important factors for such an upper bound are: However, the weight of “Helios” has only 590kg, it even lighter than a car. The larger wing on the Helios Prototype accommodated more solar arrays to provide adequate power for the sun-powered development flights that followed. The Pathfinder set a new altitude record for solar aviation in 1995, reaching over 50,000 feet. The 247-foot (75 m) wingspan gave the Helios Prototype an aspect ratio of almost 31 to 1. After a delayed take off, due to the failure of the winds to shift as predicted, Helios spent more time than expected flying through a zone of low-level turbulence on the lee side of Kauai, because it was climbing more slowly than normal, since it had to contend with cloud shadows and the resultant reduction in solar power. AeroVironment, Inc. developed the vehicles under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program. The aircraft’s design airspeed was subsequently exceeded and the resulting high dynamic pressures caused the wing leading edge secondary structure on the outer wing panels to fail and the solar cells and skin on the upper surface of the wing to rip off. The solar-electric Helios Prototype flying wing bisects the volcanic atoll of Lehua off the coast of Kaua'i, Hawaii, during a checkout flight on June 7, 2003. FUN3D is a NASA developed unstructured flow solver that has been around and in use for more than two decades. To this end, the Helios Prototype could be configured in two different ways. [3], Using the traditional incremental or stairstep approach to flight testing, the Helios Prototype was first flown in a series of battery-powered development flights in late 1999 to validate the longer wing's performance and the aircraft's handling qualities. AeroVironment, Inc. developed the vehicles under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program. Launch Date: 1974-12-10 Launch Vehicle: Titan IIIE-Centaur Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States Mass: 371.2 kg Funding Agencies. The Helios Prototype flying wing stretches almost the full length of the 300-foot-long hangar at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, The solar-powered Helios Prototype flying wing frames two modified F-15 research aircraft in a hangar at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, NASA's Helios Prototype aircraft taking off from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, for the record flight. The experimental fuel cell system carried aboard the Helios Prototype on that flight was lost. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In the The NASA Centurion was the third aircraft developed as part of an evolutionary series of solar- and fuel-cell-system-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. The five aerodynamically shaped pods were made mostly of the same materials as the wing itself, with the exception of the transparent wing covering. Conversely, applying additional power to the motors in the center panels caused Helios to pitch up and begin climbing.[1]. Since the record altitude flight, AeroVironment, Inc., designer and manufacturer of the giant flying wing, has focused on development of the experimental fuel cell-based electrical power system that would allow flight at night to meet the second milestone. Helios Prototype crew chief Marshall MacCready of AeroVironment, Inc., carefully monitors motor runs during ground checkout of the solar-powered flying wing prior to its first flight in Hawaii. To turn the aircraft in flight, yaw control was applied using differential power on the motors — speeding up the motors on one outer wing panel while slowing down motors on the other outer panel. Two wheels on each pod made up the fixed landing gear—rugged mountain bike wheels on the rear and smaller scooter wheels on the front. [1], The Helios Prototype shared the same 8-foot (2.4 m) wing chord (distance from leading to trailing edge) as its Pathfinder and Centurion predecessors. The Helios Prototype aircraft during initial climb-out to the west over the Pacific Ocean. Several remain classified. The airfoil of “Helios” has 75m which longer than Boeing 747’s airfoil. The second configuration, HP03, optimized the aircraft for endurance, and used a combination of solar cells, storage batteries and a modified commercial hydrogen–air fuel cell system for power at night. Although the SPACOM is over designed, with the correct airfoil selection, wing configuration, and power systems it The 247-foot length of the Helios prototype wing is in evidence as the solar-powered flying wing rests on its ground dolly during pre-flight tests at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility. and the NASA Helios solar-powered airplane that almost reached 100,000 feet. Modularization and Validation of NASA FUN3D as a HPCMP CREATE-AV Helios Near-body Solver, Rohit Jain, Robert T. Biedron, William Jones, Elizabeth M. Lee-Rausch, AIAA 2017-1298, 2016. study their successes and failure. Shaped Styrofoam was used for the wing's leading edge and a durable clear plastic film covered the entire wing. They were built to develop the technologies that would allow long-term, high-altitude aircraft to serve as atmospheric satellites, to perform atmospheric research tasks as well as serve as communications platforms. Transonic flow past Onera M6 wing (standalone and Helios) 3. A weight analysis and power sensitivity analysis were researched, and it was shown that this aircraft would generate 75kw of power that is greater then the power available to fly. There is extensive interest in High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned air vehicles (UAV), used for atmospheric research, as pseudo-satellite systems, and for military C3I. Helios is now equipped with an experimental fuel cell system to allow nighttime flight. 10 Nov 1974: Launch Helios 1 was a joint German-American deep-space mission to study the main solar processes and solar-terrestrial relationships. Applications of this technology include the NASA Helios high altitude airplane, the Boeing Condor and more recently the Boeing Phantom Eye, the Ratsrepus World Championship aerobatic airplane, the keel for the America3 sailboat that won the America’s Cup in 1990, race car wings that won the Indianapolis 500 and several Formula 1 races. ", "Configuration changes to the aircraft, driven by programmatic and technological constraints, altered the aircraft from a spanloader to a highly point-loaded mass distribution on the same structure significantly reducing design robustness and margins of safety.