Low Stored Volume Deployable Wings for High Altitude Aircraft

In Phase I, L’Garde sought to mature a concept for inflatable wings for High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAV’s. The concept used inflatable spars to support flight loads and tension the skin. During Phase I, the maturity of the concept has been significantly advanced. L’Garde developed an inflatable conically stowed wing with the following characteristics:  Lift/Drag Ratio ≈ 29  Wing Aspect Ratio ≈ 20  Wing Span ≈ 63 m  Wing Area ≈ 175 m2  Stowed Volume ≈ 0.74 m3  System Mass ≈ 257 kg The technical objective of the Phase II effort will be to fully prove the feasibility of the inflatable wing concept as proposed by L’Garde. This will be achieved by: (1) refining the Phase I design through structural testing, aerodynamic testing, and consulting with the Rapid Eye prime contractors; (2) building a new version of the spreadsheet model used in Phase I; (3) developing detailed designs for the objective system and engineering prototypes; (4) modeling the performance of the full scale objective system with a multi-physics FEA; (5) deploying a full chord length wing section; and (6) flying a small span of the full chord length wing in a wind tunnel.