Lockheed High Altitude Powered Platform (HAPP): sun-powered and unmanned

[Stargazer]

This is an article I saved from the February 1983 issue of Popular Mechanics.

It describes the Lockheed HAPP, a high-flying unmanned aircraft destined to loiter at 70,000 ft for months at a time on sun-provided electric power alone.

 

[quellish]

Thanks! I can NEVER remember this name/acronym. In the early to mid 80s the HAPP concept was all over the place. Books, magazines, DARPA studies - I do not recall Lockheed specifically being lead on it.
The HAPP concept though is what lead to several programs - Condor, AARS/Tier III, and others. Ironically, HALSOL/Pathfinder, which is the closest thing to realizing the HAPP concept, does not seem to have been directly connected to the HAPP effort.

IIRC, HAPP was not limited to solar power - there was also attention given to beamed microwave power

 

[robunos]

There's a couple of paragraphs, and two pictures, on pp.94-5 of
Gunston's 'Future Fighters'...


cheers,
Robin.

 

[AeroFranz]

I know a guy who was working on HAPP at LockMart missile and space in Sunnyvale in the 80's, which was at least on if not the home for these activities. He told me the microwave stuff was considered but rejected early on as the state-of-the art of technology just wasn't good enough. the aircraft required a big antenna (for some reason it's called a 'rectenna' in technical literature) was pretty big and draggy and very detrimental to drag, thus power requirements. I'll see if I can dig up some more stuff.

 

[flateric]

...

 

[AeroFranz]

coincidentally, i just found the three view for another one with folding panels Note wingspan of 322ft!

 

[The Artist]

I'm posting this here because this is a color copy of the version posted by Stargazer2006, and it is different from the color image posted by robunes. Notice that that vertical object (nose gear?) has been painted out on both the day and night depictions of the aircraft.

I found this in Airplanes of the Future by Don Berliner, Learner Publications, 1987

 

[Stargazer]

An image of the twin-boom HAPP from Krylia Rodine, May 1991:

Lockheed began developing the "Solar HAPP" in the late 70's. In the early 80's there were reports that the company contracted with NASA to create a high-altitude unmanned aircraft powered by solar cells. Since then, numerous studies followed, with test flights planned for 1990. Now, the first flight is scheduled for 1993. (...)
The HAPP is meant to use graphite-epoxy composite materials, aluminum alloys and a Teflon film coating.
A TV equipment is to provide an accurate picture from heights of 18,000 to 24,000 m.
Two types of layouts have been studied: a flying wing and a twin-boom tail design.

Wingspan: 98.15 m
Length: 28.04 m
Take-off weight: 910 kg
Payload weight: 115 kg
The "Solar HAPP" can fly at an altitude of 19,800 ft.

 

[dannydale]

I think I've seen this show before. Popular Science, October 1985. Those old science magazines held my interest as a kid far better than any Playboy ever could! ;D

 

[xstatic3000]

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but after reading over the AARS thread again I can’t help but wondering - was this ENCHANTMENT?

To refresh everyone’s memory, ENCHANTMENT was apparently a Lockheed concept for the same bomber-detecting mission for the Navy as Boeing’s Condor. The dimensions and configuration seem to match, and the shot of the model with an F-14 is certainly intriguing.

 

[Whisperstream]

The Boeing Condor was given the codename FENNEL and designated a technology demonstration system (TDS). A series of TDS flights demonstrated the vehicle's basic handling qualities and performance capabilities. DARPA also directed Boeing to integrate a representative mission payload suite and a combination line-of-sight and satellite high-bandwidth data link into the vehicle for a series of mission demonstration system (MDS) tests. Additional DARPA interests included assessing survivability and vulnerability characteristics, identifying typical payload suites for various missions, and performing a series of trade studies to identify a HALE APV operational configuration. As a special access program, some aspects of the Condor project were initially classified SECRET/ADMIXTURE (S/AXT) and SECRET/ENCHANTMENT (S/ENT), but were later downgraded to UNCLASSIFIED.

 

[sublight_]

The Boeing Condor was given the codename FENNEL and designated a technology demonstration system (TDS). A series of TDS flights demonstrated the vehicle's basic handling qualities and performance capabilities. DARPA also directed Boeing to integrate a representative mission payload suite and a combination line-of-sight and satellite high-bandwidth data link into the vehicle for a series of mission demonstration system (MDS) tests. Additional DARPA interests included assessing survivability and vulnerability characteristics, identifying typical payload suites for various missions, and performing a series of trade studies to identify a HALE APV operational configuration. As a special access program, some aspects of the Condor project were initially classified SECRET/ADMIXTURE (S/AXT) and SECRET/ENCHANTMENT (S/ENT), but were later downgraded to UNCLASSIFIED.

Do you have any references for that? Thanks!

 

[quellish]

The Boeing Condor was given the codename FENNEL and designated a technology demonstration system (TDS). A series of TDS flights demonstrated the vehicle's basic handling qualities and performance capabilities. DARPA also directed Boeing to integrate a representative mission payload suite and a combination line-of-sight and satellite high-bandwidth data link into the vehicle for a series of mission demonstration system (MDS) tests. Additional DARPA interests included assessing survivability and vulnerability characteristics, identifying typical payload suites for various missions, and performing a series of trade studies to identify a HALE APV operational configuration. As a special access program, some aspects of the Condor project were initially classified SECRET/ADMIXTURE (S/AXT) and SECRET/ENCHANTMENT (S/ENT), but were later downgraded to UNCLASSIFIED.

Do you have any references for that? Thanks!

ENCHANTMENT was the Navy compartment for airborne BACKFIRE defenses. Several companies participated. After ENCHANTMENT Boeing took Condor and developed it with company funds and DARPA.

 

[sublight_]

The Boeing Condor was given the codename FENNEL and designated a technology demonstration system (TDS). A series of TDS flights demonstrated the vehicle's basic handling qualities and performance capabilities. DARPA also directed Boeing to integrate a representative mission payload suite and a combination line-of-sight and satellite high-bandwidth data link into the vehicle for a series of mission demonstration system (MDS) tests. Additional DARPA interests included assessing survivability and vulnerability characteristics, identifying typical payload suites for various missions, and performing a series of trade studies to identify a HALE APV operational configuration. As a special access program, some aspects of the Condor project were initially classified SECRET/ADMIXTURE (S/AXT) and SECRET/ENCHANTMENT (S/ENT), but were later downgraded to UNCLASSIFIED.

Do you have any references for that? Thanks!

ENCHANTMENT was the Navy compartment for airborne BACKFIRE defenses. Several companies participated. After ENCHANTMENT Boeing took Condor and developed it with company funds and DARPA.

But is there anything in the national archives or DTIC.mil on this?

 

[Whisperstream]

Back in the late 1990s there used to be thousands of pages of declassified Boeing Condor documents inside a warehouse in Yermo, California, along with the second air vehicle. Many of the pages were labeled FENNEL and there were references to Condor as the "FENNEL aircraft." Boeing and any relevant customer agencies had sanitized the documents of any sensitive material by cutting out words, sentences, and paragraphs with a razor. Classification markings were crossed out but it was possible to make out ADMIXTURE on those associated with the Condor technology demonstration system (TDS) test series and ENCHANTMENT on those associated with the mission demonstration system (MDS) test series. Not sure where all those documents are now. You might check with NASA.

 

[AeroFranz]

Good stuff...the hand-written notes on the margin of the L/D chart allow you to do a little bit of reverse engineering.

 

[flateric]

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19840017634.pdf
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19850022759.pdf

 

[flateric]

...

 

[publiusr]

The Helios ERAST was as close as that concept ever got I suppose