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A glimpse inside Boeing's Phantom Eye hydrogen-fueled unmanned aircraft has been provided by the Phantom Works' Keith Monteith, in a presentation to September's High Altitude and Near Space conference. The company-funded high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) demonstrator is planned to fly next year. The design is dominated by two things: the slender 150ft-span wing and the two 8ft-diameter liquid-hydrogen tanks that result in a bulbous fuselage. Both are driven by the requirement to demonstrate an endurance of at least four days above 60,000ft, to prove the technical readiness of hydrogen propulsion.

Boeing’s hydrogen-powered, high-altitude Phantom Eye unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrator will be shipped to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., in preparation for a series of ground tests this summer. The company unveiled the aircraft to employees during a ceremony July 12 in St. Louis. First flight of the aircraft, expected to last up to 8 hr., is slated for early 2011. Prior to that milestone, officials will run the aircraft through ground and taxi tests. The ultimate goal is to fly the aircraft for 96 hr., possibly next spring. Objective altitude is around 65,000 ft. Powered...

Phantom Works offered a first glimpse of Phantom Eye, the hydrogen-powered unmanned demonstrator built to stay aloft at 65,000ft for up to four days at a time, 12 July in St. Louis. In September, Phantom Eye will move to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, California, to begin a series of ground and taxi tests in preparation for its maiden flight in the first quarter of 2011. The debut flight is expected to last 4 to 8hr. We still have a ways to go," said Drew Mallow, Phantom Eye programme manager, including continuing wing testing, integration work and...

Boeing has revealed more details about the timeline, plans and capabilities of the high-altitude long endurance Phantom Eye unmanned aircraft system. Phantom Works President Darryl Davis says the hydrogen-powered, subscale demonstrator is on track to fly in January 2011. Schedules posted inside the Phantom Eye production hangar during a press tour on 24 June narrowed the date to around 20 January. Final assembly of the Phantom Eye fuselage is within weeks of completion. One of two 2.4m (8ft-)diameter fuel tanks has already been installed inside the exposed frames of the centre fuselage. The tail of the Phantom Eye was scheduled...