SOLAR UAV : airframe and landing gear design, fabrication, testing and evaluation (I)

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have seen an unprecedented growth in recent years in both military as well as civilian application domain. This has increased the interest and research in unmanned technology at academic level. This thesis shows the conceptual design of a solar powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that has a wing span of 15 meters with a take-off mass of not more than 60 Kg. The conceptual idea adopted is the concept of a powered glider. Gliders are designed to have the minimum drag for any given amount of lift. The fuselage is a long and narrow section, together with long and thin wings help to achieve minimum drag while maintaining the lift. Any aircraft designed in this manner are able to have efficient climbing rates and can glide long distances at a high speed with a minimum loss of height in between.