Engineers design drones that can stay aloft for five days

A team of MIT engineers has come up with a much less expensive UAV design that can hover for longer durations to provide wide-ranging communications support. The researchers designed, built, and tested a UAV resembling a thin glider with a 24-foot wingspan. The vehicle can carry 10 to 20 pounds of communications equipment while flying at an altitude of 15,000 feet. Weighing in at just under 150 pounds, the vehicle is powered by a 5-horsepower gasoline engine and can keep itself aloft for more than five days—longer than any gasoline-powered autonomous aircraft has remained in flight, the researchers say.

The UAV was developed through a student collaboration under a Beaver Works capstone project.