The subtle competition between UK and US has reached the skies. A UK built plane has broken the record for longest unmanned flight that had earlier been held by a US plan. Zephyr, a high attitude long endurance plane is an UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). The Zephyr beat the record held by the US plane by staying in the air for more than 82 hours. The earlier record had been for 30 hours 24 minutes and had been held by robot plane Global Hawk. however, the record set by the Zephyr still remains unofficial.

The Zephyr is an ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre aircraft with a wingspan of 18 metres and weight of 30 kgs. The remote controlled plane reached altitudes in excess of 60,000ft after which it was flown on autopilot via satellite communication. The plane is powered by solar energy supplied by paper-thin amorphous silicon solar arrays on the wings. The saved solar energy powers the batteries during its night flights. Chris Kelleher from UK Defence and Research firm QinetiQ reports the potential applications for the Zephyr as including earth observation and communication relay. QinetiQ may soon make UAV technology available for civilian uses.

Via: Design Boom