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The Puffin: A Personal Aircraft

It is “personal” because it has a crew capacity of one, only one person who is the pilot of the aircraft. Electric, low noise, capable of reaching a speed of 150 miles per hour, and how it works, it seems to be a fancy vehicle.

The inventor, the aerospace engineer Mark Moore idealized the concept as part of the coursework for his doctoral degree, chose the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) features for this proprotor, with 14.5-foot (4.4 m) wingspan and 12-foot (3.7 m) long. The vehicle can be handled easily.

The Puffin. Source: Nasa.gov

If you ever see a puffin on the ground, it looks very awkward, with wings too small to fly, and that’s exactly what our vehicle looks like

Mark Moore

The conceptual design of this proposal has a light weight about 136 Kg as empty weight. Powered by 60 horsepower of electric motors, designed with the minimum requirement of hovering the aircraft in case of one failed propeller.

Nasa Puffin. Source: Nasapav/Youtube.

The weird design of this aircraft also has given ideas of types of operations such as military or special operations, to be launched from submarines and functions as cargo or cargo supplies with an unmanned version.

Puffin in Horizontal flight. Source: Nasa.gov

The aircraft model could be used as a technology demonstration. The other things Moore wants is share the knowledge and results of the analysis with other researchers.


References:

Nasa.gov

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-one-man-stealth-plane/

Cover photo:

Nasa.gov

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