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A fuel cell-powered remotely piloted aircraft buzzed quietly into the morning sky in a park near Van Nuys, Calif., August 25. The unorthodox flight was a triumph of collegiate innovation made possible by a nurturing program at California State University Los Angeles and a boost from NASA's Academic Investments Office and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.The college figures this is only the fourth public flight of a fuel cell-powered aircraft anywhere, and the first to use an improved type of fuel cell that greatly increases the power-to-weight ratio available for the aircraft. Fuel cells produce electrical energy in a conversion process that uses hydrogen and yields only water as a byproduct.
California Students Join Small Circle of Revolutionary Fuel-Cell Fliers - Link
That was August 25, 2006.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1VyUmdg4iA
Great footage here at the bottom of the page
http://www.calstatela.edu/centers/mfdclab/mfdclab.htm
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Very interesting mostly because of the power plant involved. Other than building a really big R/C flex wing aircraft to house the engine I wonder if there are any plans to extend the usefulness of the design? The NASA link dosen't give much information on the project or its long term objectives.
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More information and a nicer in flight video can be found here at the the MFDCLab site. I'd bet that this wing has the ability to glide quite some distance while it maintains a pretty slow stall speed.
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