Helios

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• Solar-powered flight
• in the 21st century

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HISTORY

• 4th generation of all-wing aircraft
• Built by Aero Vironment
• 1st generation was the Pathfinder
• Early 1980s wing span of 98.4 ft.
• Alt record of 50,500 ft (1995)
• Alt 71,530 ft (1997)
• 2nd generation Pathfinder plus
• Increased wing span to 121 ft
• Alt record of 80,201 ft (1998)

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HISTORY

• 3rd generation was Centurion
• Designed to reach 100,000 ft
• Wing span increased to 206 ft

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GENERATIONS
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SPECIFICATIONS

• Wingspan 247 ft
• Length 12 ft
• Wing Chord 8 ft
• Wing Thickness 11.5 in. (12 of chord)
• Wing area 1,976 ft2.
• Aspect Ratio 30.9 to 1
• Empty Weight 1,322 lb
• Gross Weight
• Up to 2,048 lb, varies depending on power
  availability and mission profile.

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SPECIFICATIONS

• Payload
• Up to 726 lb, varying between ballast and
  instrumentation. Electrical power On-board
  lithium batteries for current flight series.
  Later to be powered by bi-facial solar cells
  covering upper wing surfaces.
• Propulsion
• 14 brushless direct-current electric motors, each
  rated at 2 hp (1.5 kw), driving two-blade,
  wide-chord, 79-in. diameter laminar-flow
  propellers designed for high altitude.
• Airspeed From 19 to 25 mph cruise.

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SPECIFICATIONS

• Altitude
• Designed to operate at up to 100,000 ft, typical
  endurance mission at 50,000 to 70,000 ft.
• Endurance
• Currently configured to operate 1 to 3 hours on
  batteries. When equipped with solar power,
  limited to daylight hours plus up to 5 hours of
  flight after dark on storage batteries. When
  equipped with an energy storage system, from
  several days to several months.

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SPECIFICATIONS

• Primary Materials
• Carbon fiber and graphite epoxy composite
  structure, Kevlar, styrofoam leading edge,
  transparent plastic film wing covering. Kevlar
  and Nomex are registered trademards of E.I. Du
  Pont De Nemours and Co.

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OBJECTIVE

• Project is aimed at development of aeronautical
  technologies that are expected to produce a new
  generation of remotely piloted or autonomous
  aircraft for a variety of upper-atmospheric
  science missions.

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USES

• Flying at slow speeds for long periods of time at
  altitudes of up to 100,000 ft, the vehicles could
  be used to gather, identify, and monitor
  environmental data to assess global climate
  changes, study Earth resources, assist in
  disaster recovery situations, and serve as
  telecommunications platforms at a fraction of the
  cost of placing satellites into space.

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LATEST NEWS

• August 13, 2001
• Alt record 96,500 ft
• 17 hours in flight