Boeing Condor
{{Short description|Experimental unmanned air vehicle}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name=Condor
|image=Boeing Condor Hiller Aviation Museum.jpg
|caption=Condor on display at the Hiller Aviation Museum
|type=Research UAV
|national_origin=United States
|manufacturer=Boeing
|designer=
|first_flight=9 October 1988
|introduction=
|retired=
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|primary_user=
|more_users=
|produced=
|number_built= 2
|variants=
}}
The Boeing Condor is a high-tech test-bed piston-engined aerial reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle with a wingspan of over {{convert|200|ft|m}}.{{cite web|title=Boeing Condor |url=http://www.hiller.org/condor.shtml |website=hiller.org |accessdate=23 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723134501/http://www.hiller.org/condor.shtml |archivedate=23 July 2015 }}
Carbon-fibre composite materials make up the bulk of the Condor's fuselage and wings. Although the Condor has a relatively low radar cross-section and infrared signature, it is not unobservable, making it too vulnerable for military use.{{cite web |title=Condor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle |url=http://www.boeing.com/history/products/condor-unmanned-aerial-vehicle.page |accessdate=23 July 2015 |website=boeing.com}}
The Condor is completely robotic, with an onboard computer to communicate with the computers on the ground via satellite to control all facets of the Condor's missions. The Condor's frame is made of mainly carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer composite, with very low radar and heat signatures.
The Condor had a 141-hour flight test program and first flew on 9 October 1988, with two built.{{Cite web |title=Select Products in Boeing History |url=https://www.boeing.com/content/dam/boeing/boeingdotcom/history/pdf/Boeing_Products.pdf |access-date=23 October 2024 |website=Boeing |page=93}}
In 1989, the Condor set the world piston-powered aircraft altitude record of {{convert|67,028|ft|abbr=on}} and was the first aircraft to fly a fully automated flight from takeoff to landing. It also set an unofficial endurance world record in 1988 by flying continuously for more than 50 hours, though the flight was not ratified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and is therefore not considered an official record.{{cite news| last=Trimble| first=Stephen | title=Aurora seeks Orion production start after record flight | website=Flight Global | date=22 January 2015 | url=https://www.flightglobal.com/civil-uavs/aurora-seeks-orion-production-start-after-record-flight/115705.article}}
During its evaluations, the Condor logged over 300 flight hours, flying over Moses Lake, Washington.
Aircraft on display
The first flight article is now on display in the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California and the second is disassembled at the National Museum of the United States Air Force's restoration center in Dayton, Ohio.
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
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|span ft=205
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|gross weight lb=21000
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|fuel capacity={{cvt|12000|lb|kg}}
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|eng1 number=2
|eng1 name=Continental TSOL-300-2
|eng1 type=turbo-charged 6-cyl liquid-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engines
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|max speed kts=140
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|endurance=161 hours +
|ceiling m=20500
|ceiling ft=70000
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|climb rate ms=10.2
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|lift to drag=40:1 in cruising flight
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{{aircontent
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References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Boeing Condor}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101120114205/http://boeing.com/history/boeing/condor.html Condor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle], Boeing
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150723134501/http://www.hiller.org/condor.shtml The Condor], Hiller Aviation Museum
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071215012714/http://aviationtrivia.info/Boeing-Condor.php Aviation Trivia]
Category:1980s United States experimental aircraft
Category:Unmanned military aircraft of the United States