{"id":10238,"date":"2015-08-03T23:21:34","date_gmt":"2015-08-04T06:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=10238"},"modified":"2015-08-03T23:21:34","modified_gmt":"2015-08-04T06:21:34","slug":"facebook-unveils-big-light-electric-flying-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/facebook-unveils-big-light-electric-flying-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook Unveils a Very Big, Very Light Electric Flying Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is intent on providing at least basic Internet services to everyone in the world, even if means creating his own air force to accomplish that lofty goal.<\/p>\n

March 27, 2014, he shared his overall plan, including a large fleet of airplanes that would loiter in the stratosphere, beaming high-speed Internet connections to one and all.<\/p>\n

\"Facebook's<\/a>

Facebook’s Aquila flying wing, 880 pounds spanning over 100 feet, solar cells, batteries and all<\/p><\/div>\n

Just a few days ago,\u00a0Zuckerberg announced the completion of the first full-scale aircraft<\/a> for this grand plan, the Aquila. \u00a0Aquila has the wingspan of a Boeing 737, but weighs in at around 400 kilograms (880 pounds).\u00a0 Apparently built in England by his recently acquired team of aeronautical experts, Aquila will be able to stay in the air for months at a time, its solar-cell-clad wing powering its four motors \u2013 looking very interesting on the noses of their probable battery pods. \u00a0Like the Solar Impulse and Eric Raymond\u2019s Sunseekers and Duo, solar energy collected beyond that needed to propel the airplane during the day will be stored in battery packs \u2013 most probably located in the motor pods.<\/p>\n

The airplane comes from a small group of engineers, at least two of whom came from a Somerset, England-based company, Ascenta<\/a>.\u00a0 According the Financial Times<\/em>, company records show that Ascenta was a five-person team including chief engineer Andrew Cox and his wife Helen.\u00a0 Both were directors of the firm.<\/p>\n

Cox had been involved with the QinetiQ\u2019s Zephyr drone program, which eventually resulted in an airplane that flew more than 330 hours, just short of a fortnight, and more than double the previous drone endurance record.\u00a0 He also worked on the SpaceX Dragon, the first private aircraft to travel to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n