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Maritime flight trials of the Southampton University laser sintered aircraft–Project Albatross

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2017

A. Keane ,
J. Scanlan ,
A. Lock ,
M. Ferraro ,
P. Spillane  and
J. Breen
A. Keane*
Affiliation:
University of Southampton, Southampton, England, United Kingdom
J. Scanlan
Affiliation:
University of Southampton, Southampton, England, United Kingdom
A. Lock
Affiliation:
University of Southampton, Southampton, England, United Kingdom
M. Ferraro
Affiliation:
University of Southampton, Southampton, England, United Kingdom
P. Spillane
Affiliation:
Maritime Warfare Centre, HMS Collingwood, United Kingdom
J. Breen
Affiliation:
AEO 700X NAS, RNAS Culdrose, United Kingdom
*
ajk@soton.ac.uk
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Abstract

As part of the ongoing development of small unmanned air systems by the University of Southampton, an all laser sintered aircraft has been test flown from the Royal Navy's ice patrol ship HMS Protector to assist with navigating through the Antarctic. These flights were carried out with pre-planned autopilot control with oversight from Andrew Lock, acting as the pilot embarked on HMS Protector. This is the first time the Royal Navy has used unmanned aerial vehicles in this part of the world. In this paper, we set out the trial reports and lessons learnt from this series of test flights.

Keywords

UAVFlight TrialsLaser Sintered3D printing

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 121 , Issue 1244 , October 2017 , pp. 1502 - 1529
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2017 

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References

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