Release: 04-48P
NASA and AeroVironment, Inc., are joining forces again to conduct a new series of research flights by the solar-electric Pathfinder-Plus flying wing this fall at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. The lightweight solar craft has been instrumented with a sophisticated atmospheric turbulence measurement system on seven long booms mounted across the leading edge of the wing. About three or four low-altitude flights over the edge of Rogers Dry Lake adjacent to NASA Dryden are intended gather data to help engineers characterize and model the effects of turbulence on the aerodynamics of lightweight, flexible-structure aircraft. – NASA photos by Tom Tschida
-NASA-
Note to Editors: Photos to support this release are available in publication-quality resolution at: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/Pathfinder-Plus/index.html
Captions: EC04-0277- 08 – AeroVironment ground crew check out the operation of the Pathfinder-Plus solar aircraft’s electric motors during combined systems tests on Rogers Dry Lake.
EC04-0277-11 – Sensitive instruments on wing-mounted booms measure air turbulence and its effect on the stability of the Pathfinder-Plus solar-electric flying wing.
EC04-0277-19 – AeroVironment’s Jim Daley, Rik Meininger, Derek Lisoski and Wyatt Sadler (clockwise from bottom left) closely monitor systems testing of the Pathfinder-Plus.
Further information on the Pathfinder-Plus solar aircraft is available on the Internet at: FS-034 Pathfinder-Plus. For more information about NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, log on to: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov.
Pathfinder-Plus Solar Wing Readied to Fly Again at NASA Dryden