NASA Aeronautics has designed a new 10-engine drone that is able to go from flying like a helicopter to traveling in airplane mode, and then turn itself back again all in the same flight. The 10-engine drone prototype is called the Greased Lightning (GL-10). It was developed with a 10-foot wingspan, with eight electric motors on the wings and two electric motors on the tail. It is an electric, battery operated unmanned drone.
10-Engine Drone Can Travel Vertically, Horizontally with Ease
The 10-engine drone built by NASA can easily take off and then hover in the air just the same way a helicopter can travel. Then, once it is flying, it can simply change from flying up in a vertical fashion, to flying horizontally like an airplane.
According to its creators, the 10-engine drone is four times more aerodynamically effective when in cruise mode than a full-sized helicopter. In addition, it is said to be very quiet while in flight.
When it takes off, it merely points the wings up vertically and rises into the air, then to change into plane mode, it tilts the wings straight and swiftly makes its travel through the air. This makes it possible for it to do many different tasks that require either a helicopter-style of mode or an airplane-style of mode.
New 10-engine Drone Performing Well in Tests
So far, NASA has reported that the 10-engine drone UAV has performed well in its test flights. The new unmanned UAV is planned to be used for a variety of tasks, including things like delivering packages, doing surveillance, mapping areas, and more. NASA is also working on a larger model of the 10-engine drone that could be built to hold up to four people and operate as a personal travel aircraft.
Prototypes of New Drone Being Tested Currently
The 10-engine drone GL-10 is presently in a design and testing phase using small versions of it as a prototype to test the expected features that will be available on larger models. So far, there have been 12 of these prototypes used in the tests, ranging from a foam model weighing 5 pounds to an 25-pound fiberglass prototype, and then on to a larger, nearly 55 pound model that was made of carbon fiber.
The latest test model of the 10-engine drone is even larger, weighing a little over 62 pounds and it has about a 10-foot wingspan, which means it is about a third the size of the expected real one that could serve as a package delivery system and other task possibilities.
The new 10-engine drone from NASA has great possibilities and should have many different functions once it is fully developed and ready for action.
