Boeing’s SolarEagle project – a solar powered plane with a massive 120 metre wingspan – is moving along; with Newcastle University announcing its involvement in construction.
The University has secured a major contract with UK-based QinetiQ to develop the SolarEagle’s electric motors. It’s not a small or easy task by any stretch of the imagination as the engines will need to be four times more efficient than a conventional aircraft engine and also be able to endure temperatures lower than the coldest arctic winter – minus 60 degrees Celsius. The multiple electric motors required will pose the additional challenge of keeping the weight of the plane down low enough that it is able to take off.
Aside from being powered by solar electricity, the SolarEagle will have the largest wingspan of any powered aircraft ever built – 45 metres longer than the gargantuan Airbus A380.
The University joins the project team with valuable previous experience, having been involved with QinetiQ’s Zephyr; another solar powered plane that managed two weeks of non-stop flight last year powered only by solar energy. Zephyr’s amazing accomplishment will be dwarfed by the SolarEagle, if successful, as it will have the ability to remain aloft for up to 5 years.
Led by Professor Barrie Mecrow, the Newcastle University team aims to have the first two electric motor prototypes ready to test in the next six months. The SolarEagle project is due to be completed by 2014.
Part of the USA’s Vulture II program, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has contributed USD$89 million to the project, with Boeing providing additional investment funding.
While SolarEagle is being built primarily for military and defense applications as an unmanned spy plane, as with other initiatives originally purely military, no doubt some of the technology developed will benefit a broader range of uses in the civilian sphere.
