Flying from the Aerosonde test facility in western Victoria, a Mk4 Aerosonde UAV today
set an unofficial1 world endurance record of 38 hrs and 48 minutes. The current official
record is 30 hrs and 24 minutes held by the Northrop Grumman Ryan Aeronautical RQ-
4A "Global Hawk".
The flight took place as a cold front passed through the region. Special Projects
Manager and team leader, Maurice Gonella reported: "Winds at times were higher than
the ideal cruise speed of the aircraft and so, coupled with a wet airframe and turbulent
conditions, maximum endurance was reduced from our target of 40 hours".
Aerosonde 157 (Piccolo II 1032) Launched at 0637 UTC and landed at 2119 and landed
on Wednesday May 3 at 2119 for a total of 38 hours and 48 minutes. It was Aerosonde
157's maiden flight and is the first Aerosonde flight to witness 2 sunrises. Fuel
consumption during the mission ranged from 207 down to 122 gm/hour.
The Mk4 Aerosonde includes the Cloud Cap Technology Piccolo II avionics, and
Aerosonde wishes to thank Ross Hoag and Bill Vaglienti of Cloud Cap Technology for
their support in making the achievement possible. Ross commented: "The endurance
achievement outlined above is particularly gratifying for Bill and I; it feels like we've comefull circle with Piccolo flying in the Aerosonde. A 38-hour maiden flight, first flight on both the airframe and avionics, is impressive and shows the maturity level of the individual systems".
Modifications to the UAV to enable the endurance attempt included tuning of the EFI
engine, weight reduction and improvements to the aerodynamic efficiency of the UAV.
These modifications were lead by final year Monash University Aeronautical Engineering
student, Cameron Devries and many of these enhancements will be available
immediately in the Mk4 product line. Aerosonde are aiming at further endurance
attempts in the near future with the goal of attaining 48 hours flight.
