NASA’s Ten-Engine Electric Plane GL-10 Prototype Completed Successful Flight Test

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully developed and flight tested the prototype of a ten-engine electric plane Greased Lightning (GL)-10. It was revealed by the US space agency on 1 May 2015 on its website.

Key Features of Greased Lightning (GL)-10
• The aircraft was conceptualized by the NASA in order to enhance its capabilities in using remotely piloted aircrafts in science investigations and to augment technology development for aircraft, cubesats and other platforms.
• It is a battery-powered 10-engine remotely piloted aircraft having eight electric motors on the wings and two electric motors on the tail.
• It weighs a maximum of 62 pounds (28.1 kilograms) at take off and has a 10-foot wingspan.
• It can take off like a helicopter and fly like an airplane.
• It produces less noise in the sense that it is quieter than a neighbor mowing the lawn with a gas-powered motor.
• At present it is in the design and testing phase and under the first phase of the It will be an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and could be used for small package delivery or vertical takeoff and landing, long endurance surveillance for agriculture, mapping and other applications.
• In the later stage, a scaled up version which can accommodate up to four persons will be developed.

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