The Puffin is a 2010 concept for a hover-capable,
electric-powered, personal
vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technology-concept
proprotor aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...
. The concept design was projected to be capable of flying a single person at a speed of 150 miles per hour (241 km/h), with range expected to be less than 50 miles (80 km) with 2010-vintage
Lithium-iron-phosphate battery technology. The design specified a 13.5 foot (4.1 m)
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...
, standing 12 feet (3.65 m) tall on the ground in its
take-off or landing configuration.
A one-third scale model was built in 2010, and was briefly displayed including appearing in one episode of a
Discovery network series on invention.
Development
,
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...
achieved the first flight of a one-third scale, hover-capable Puffin technology demonstrator by March 2010 as the first eVTOL (electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft concept. The concept was developed by Mark Moore, with several publications providing details of the design analysis and logic. By mid-summer 2010, they hoped to "begin investigating how well it transitions from cruise to hover flight".
, the one-third scale model of the Puffin was briefly on display at the
NASA Langley campus for the filming of the
Discovery network series ''
Dean of Invention''. The Puffin
simulator was also demonstrated. The Puffin was slated to appear in the eighth and final episode of the show.
[NASA TV's This Week @NASA, August 13]
, 2010-08-13, accessed 2010-09-10. The aircraft was never built at full-scale nor extensively tested.
Concept specifications
See also
References
External links
*NASA.gov:
2010-02-08.
Electric Icarus: NASA Designs a One-Man Stealth Plane: Could the Puffin, an electric-powered flying suit, change the way we use the sky in war and peace? Charles Q. Choi, ''
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
,'' 2010-01-19
Meet the “Puffin,” NASA’s One-Man Electric Plane ''
Discover Magazine
''Discover'' is an American general audience science magazine launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It has been owned by Kalmbach Publishing since 2010.
History
Founding
''Discover'' was created primarily through the efforts of ''Time'' mag ...
'', 2010-01-20.
NASA’s Puffin Is Way Cooler Than a Jetpack Jason Paur, ''
Wired'', 2010-01-21.
NASA Low Noise, Electric VTOL Personal Air Vehicle computer graphic video.
Tailsitter aircraft
NASA programs
Electric aircraft
Proposed aircraft of the United States
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