Seung-Jae Hwang, Sang-Gon Kim, Cheol-Won Kim and Yung-Gyo Lee
International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sicences, vol. 17, no. 1, pp.132-138, 2016

Abstract : Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is developing an electric-driven HALE UAV in order to secure system and operational technologies since 2010. Based on the flight tests and design experiences of the previously developed electricdriven UAVs, KARI has designed EAV-3, a solar-powered HALE UAV. EAV-3 weighs 53kg, the structure weight is 22kg, and features a flexible wing of 19.5m in span with the aspect ratio of 17.4. Designing the main wing and empennage of the EAV- 3 the amount of the bending due to the flexible wing, 404mm at 1-G flight condition based on T-800 composite material, and side wind effects due to low cruise speed, Vcr = 6m/sec, are carefully considered. Also, unlike the general aircraft there is no center of gravity shift during the flight because of the EAV-3 is the solar-electric driven UAV. Thus, static margin cuts down to 28.4% and center of gravity moves back to 31% of the Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC) comparing with the previously designed the EAV-2 and EAV-2H/2H+ to upgrade the flight performance of the EAV-3.

Keyword : HALE, UAV, Solar-powered, Flexible wing, Ultra-light weight