Drone with petrol engine: five days in the sky without refueling

The current record for the length of Autonomous flight of drones holds the Qinetiq Zephyr with the figure of 336 hours, but he feeds off the energy of the Sun, making the car nearly useless from an economic point of view. So at mit have created a hybrid of the vintage glider and drone from the engine. To fly this machine can’t do, but it lasts in the air for days on end.

The wingspan of a new drones 7.3 m, it weighs 68 kg and can take a 9 kg payload and moves through the work of a 5-horsepower gasoline engine. The ceiling height is at 5 km, and the speed depends on the air flow, so as the drone most of the time plans. The creators say that he is not afraid 94% of all winds except the most ferocious, and to use the machine in any climatic zone.

To launch the UAV used car from a launch pad on the roof, which accelerates the machine to the speed of separation from the earth. On landing you should not worry, as the project was initially carried out in the framework of assistance projects in the areas of natural disasters. The drone is made of durable, light and cheap materials – you sit on the ground or not, he will disassemble and use the parts as intended.

Test flights were successful, but short-term, and developers immediately faced with restrictions from Federal authorities, who demanded to reduce the design three times, or to issue a special permit. Where, then, information about 5 days of the flight? It is estimated, based on the speed of fuel combustion and engine operation mode – systematically balancing these figures, the inventors plan to reach the desired level. Sometime in the future.
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