AstroFlight Sunrise

AstroFlight Sunrise
Role Experimental aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer AstroFlight
Designer Roland Boucher
First flight 4 November 1974
Status Retired
Number built 2

The AstroFlight Sunrise was an uncrewed experimental electric aircraft technology demonstrator and the first aircraft to fly on solar power.[1]

First conceived in November 1970, the Sunrise first flew on 4 November 1974 from Bicycle Lake, a dry lakebed on the Fort Irwin Military Reservation, California, United States. The first prototype was destroyed on its 28th flight by turbulence. The improved Sunrise II flew the following year.[1][2][3][4]

  1. ^ a b Boucher, Roland (n.d.). "Project Sunrise pg 1". Archived from the original on 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2009-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ Boucher, Roland (n.d.). "Project Sunrise pg 13". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2009-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  3. ^ Newcome, Laurence R. (2004). Unmanned aviation: a brief history of unmanned aerial vehicles. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  4. ^ Curry, Marty (March 2008). "Solar-Power Research and Dryden". Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-15.