WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pathfinder-Plus, the
pioneering solar-electric flying wing that set several altitude records for
propeller-driven aircraft under NASA sponsorship, has become the fourth
innovation of its developer, AeroVironment, Inc., to be acquired for the
permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
The ultra-lightweight flying wing was enshrined in the National Air and
Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport in suburban
Virginia in late January, and is now prominently displayed for public
viewing among the center's fleet of famed aerospace craft.
The original Pathfinder all-electric aircraft made its first flight on
battery power in 1983, and was later upgraded with solar cell arrays to
enable it to fly on the power of the sun. Its successor configuration,
Pathfinder- Plus, went on to establish several flying records, including
soaring to a world altitude record for propeller-powered aircraft of more
than 80,000 feet in 1998.
"The Pathfinder / Pathfinder-Plus peeled back some of the veils of
flight and explored new regimes," said John Del Frate of NASA's Dryden
Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, Calif., who managed most of the
NASA-supported flight research projects.
"The Pathfinder lived up to its name by gently plying its way to
record- setting altitudes -- and those records speak for themselves," he
added. "The aircraft didn't do it all by itself. It only represented the
efforts of a small, dedicated team that was given the opportunity and the
resources to make it happen."
Pathfinder Plus' record-setting development and test flights led the
way for its successor, Helios, and for AeroVironment's next generation of
stratospheric unmanned aircraft systems, the Global Observer, currently in
development.
"The learning and technology developed from Pathfinder and Pathfinder-
Plus' successful missions have been invaluable toward the continuing
development of Global Observer, which we believe represents the future of
stratospheric flight," said Tim Conver, president and chief executive
officer of AeroVironment. "Innovation drives our business, and the
installation of Pathfinder-Plus in the National Air and Space Museum,
alongside some of the most storied aircraft in aviation history, will
enable the public to share in this innovative aircraft's history."
Pathfinder was first developed for a classified government program in
the early 1980's to develop a high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft for
surveillance purposes. Known as HALSOL (for High-ALtitude SOLar) aircraft,
it was first powered by batteries. After that project was cancelled, the
aircraft was stored for 10 years before being resurrected for a brief
program under the auspices of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization in
1993. With the addition of small solar arrays, five low-altitude checkout
flights were flown under the BMDO program at NASA Dryden in the fall of
1993 and early 1994 on a combination of solar and battery power.
Pathfinder was adopted by NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and
Sensor Technology (ERAST) program in 1994 to assist in the development of
unmanned aerial research platforms for the stratosphere. With the addition
of solar cell arrays across most of its upper wing surface, Pathfinder flew
to 50,567 feet near Edwards AFB in 1995 on solar power, its first trip to
the stratosphere. It then flew to 71,500 feet in 1997 while performing a
series of high-altitude science missions over the Hawaiian Islands.
In 1998, Pathfinder was upgraded to become Pathfinder-Plus, with a new
center wing panel that increased the wingspan from 99 feet to 121 feet.
Pathfinder-Plus was fitted with new high-efficiency solar cells on its
center wing panel and other improvements that enabled it to set anther
altitude record of 80,201 feet for propeller-driven aircraft in August
1998.
The upgraded solar and control system technology validated in the
Pathfinder-Plus led to development of the Helios, which set the current
world altitude record for propeller-driven aircraft in level flight of
96,863 feet near the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i in 2001.
During the summer of 2002, the Pathfinder-Plus flew several
demonstration missions over Hawaii to confirm the practical utility of
high-flying, remotely piloted, environmentally friendly solar aircraft for
commercial purposes, emphasizing its capabilities as a relay platform for
telecommunications and aerial surveillance of crops. Pathfinder-Plus' final
mission in September 2005 saw the featherweight craft perform atmospheric
turbulence measurements at Edwards AFB under the auspices of NASA Dryden.
"Those of us on the NASA / AeroVironment team will always consider
ourselves to be privileged to have been allowed to explore some of those
'veiled' regimes with the Pathfinder," Del Frate reflected. "We are honored
that the vehicle now 'flies' in the company of other great aircraft at the
National Air and Space Museum."
Other innovations of Monrovia, Calif.-based AeroVironment or its
founder, Dr. Paul MacCready, that are in the permanent collection of the
Smithsonian include the Gossamer Condor, Gossamer Albatross, Solar
Challenger and Quetzalcoatlus Northropi replica Pterosaur aircraft and the
Sunraycer solar race car developed for General Motors.
The National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
displays among its artifacts the larger icons in the museum's collection,
including a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the space shuttle prototype
Enterprise, a Concorde and the "Dash 80" Boeing 707 prototype, along with
thousands of other smaller items. The center is open daily.
For more information about NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and its
research projects, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden.
For more on AeroVironment, visit:
http://www.avinc.com/about_overview.php.
SOURCE NASA
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Related links:
http://www.nasa.gov
http://www.avinc.com/about_overview.php
CONTACT:
Alan Brown of NASA Dryden Flight Research
Center, +1-661-276-2665, alan.brown@dfrc.nasa.gov; Steven Gitlin
of AeroVironment, +1-626-357-9983, gitlin@avinc.com; or Peter
Golkin of National Air and Space Museum, +1-202-633-2374,
Golkinp@si.edu
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