In the pioneering spirit of the Wright Brothers taking flight in North Carolina, I hope to teach a computer it can use thermals like hawks and buzzards. As a graduate student at North Carolina State University in the Aerospace Engineering program, I propose an intelligent embedded system that can find and use thermals to increase time aloft.

The project goal is 141.7mi cross country without human intervention. This will beat the 1988 FAI world record for cross country flying by 1 mile.

First, however, a 25.3mi distance to goal and return flight will be attempted, also beating the current world record by 1 mile. All records will be well-documented and posted here, since the autonomous glider will not fit in the FAI model aircraft category and the FAI does not currently have a glider UAV category.

As of 14th June 2008, the best flight by ALOFT is a 39.44mi cross-country that took 207 minutes, all done autonomously. The longest stretch on autopilot for the motor-less glider was set on the same flight in June 2008. Over 21.5 hours of autopilot flight time have been logged on the airframe, with more to come...

Come with me, as we make glider history and create an enabling technology: autonomous soaring!