On Monday February 9, a group from Colorado University’s Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles, which is part of CU Boulder’s Aerospace Engineering Sciences department test flew a RC Pilatus. They plan to take the plane to Alaska to do an artic environmental survey and had concerns about carburetor freezing in the cold so they had converted it from gas to electric. They flew several laps, then flew a preprogramed pattern on auto-pilot, and had a smooth landing for a successful test flight.
James Mack is the pilot and an AAM member; Doug Weibel is a graduate research assistant; Tevis Nichols is a graduate research assistant; Gijs de Boer is with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences which is a joint institute between NOAA and CU; and Brian Argrow is a professor at Aerospace Engineering Sciences.
