Boeing’s newest spy drone, the Phantom Ray, got its first taste of the air Monday while hitching a ride on a 747 designed to ferry the space shuttle. It was a first for the drone, which is a test bed for advanced UAV technologies, but it was also a big day for NASA, which proved it can find new uses for space shuttle technologies after the shuttles retire.
Phantom Ray is a flying delta wing descended from Boeing Phantom Works’s X-45C demonstrator aircraft, and like its predecessor, it will be used to demonstrate the newest technologies available for autonomous aircraft. Just 36 feet long with a 50-foot wingspan, it will be able to carry a light payload around 4,000 pounds. It will cruise at 40,000 feet, reaching speeds of 614 mph — making it one of the fastest drones on record. Its unusual shape also allows it to evade radar.
![SASFOR [home]](/users/sasfor/site_logo.jpg "SASFOR"){kind=logo}
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-12/phantom-ray-drone-makes-its-first-flight-piggyback-...
RSS
Phantom Ray is a flying delta wing descended from Boeing Phantom Works’s X-45C demonstrator aircraft, and like its predecessor, it will be used to demonstrate the newest technologies available for autonomous aircraft. Just 36 feet long with a 50-foot wingspan, it will be able to carry a light payload around 4,000 pounds. It will cruise at 40,000 feet, reaching speeds of 614 mph — making it one of the fastest drones on record. Its unusual shape also allows it to evade radar.