NASA To Unveil Puffin Aircraft.

NASA To Unveil Puffin Aircraft.

Scientific American (1/19, Choi) reported, "A super-quiet, hover-capable aircraft design, NASA's experimental one-man Puffin could show just how much electric propulsion can transform our ideas of flight. It looks like nothing less than a flying suit or a jet pack with a cockpit." The aircraft, which will be officially unveiled on January 20, is being developed by Mark Moore of the Langley Research Center. Moore said it was called the Puffin because it the bird is "called the most environmentally friendly bird... and we're environmentally friendly because we have essentially no emissions." According to the article, the Puffin "relies" on an electronic motor, making it quiet and efficient. "By March, the researchers plan on finishing a one third–size, hover-capable Puffin demonstrator, and in the three months following that they will begin investigating how well it transitions from cruise to hover flight. ... The next-generation of this design might incorporate more than just two pairs of prop rotors, so that if one was struck...the aircraft could survive on redundant systems."

        According to Popular Science (1/20, Dillow), the Puffin could demonstrate "just how far personal, electrically propelled flight could change the ways we live and get around." The Puffin's "range would be the most limiting characteristic, at just 50 miles, but that's simply a matter of battery density." The article notes, "The Puffin is so far just a cool digital rendering in a NASA-branded video, but let's not forget exactly who put men on the moon before we call the concept unfeasible."