Turbulent end for Pathfinder

The Pathfinder-Plus solar-electric flying wing recently completed a short series of research flights from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center to investigate the effects of turbulence on lightweight flexible wing structures. The flights marked the end of an era in solar-powered flight research for the 23-year-old craft, which is due for retirement shortly.

Flown by crews from AeroVironment, owner and builder of the experimental aircraft, the Pathfinder-Plus made two low-altitude flights over the northern portion of Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The first was a three-hour flight on August 31, followed by a two-and-a-quarter hour mission on September 14. Both missions were flown on a combination of solar and battery power.

"The primary goal for these research flights of the Pathfinder-Plus was to gather aeroelastic data to really begin understanding how these vehicles perform in flight," said Robert Navarro, NASA Dryden's project manager for the test flights. "Being so flexible, they constantly change shape and we need to understand how the airplanes behave.