A Joined-Wing Flight Experiment

Abstract : This report summarizes several design and analysis studies surrounding the flight test of a 7% geometric scale of a notional high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) variant that targeted the AFRL SensorCraft mission. Established procedures were modified to accommodate low-cost testing with giant-scale radio-controlled technology as an approach to reduce high risk associated with new technologies, such as the joined-wing concept. The flight test vehicle reported here was rigid. The second successful flight ended in deep stall due to under-powered design. Minimal data was extracted from the flight test. Significant experience was gained. This report motivates and describes the next step toward low-cost aeroelastic scaling of joined-wing concepts where geometric non-linear structures is a key component.