Hyperion Flying Wing Aircraft Technology

Student engineering teams develop a 3m scale model inspired after the NASA-Boeing X-48B blended wing body to use as a test bed for advanced technical studies. The design concept, named Hyperion, implements a novel hybrid gas/electric power train as a green aircraft technology. The aircraft serves as a test-bed for research and development in the following focus areas: aerodynamics, structures and materials, weights and mass properties, handling and control, flight mechanics, and efficiency improvements on performance. The University of Colorado’s collaboration with the University of Stuttgart, Germany, and the University of Sydney, Australia, allows the global project team to work full 24-hour days on the project by transitioning every 8 hours. Thus, the project teaches essential global industry skills in project management and systems engineering through long-distance design collaboration with multidisciplinary and multicultural teams of graduate and undergraduate students located around the world. Lessons learned will be valuable for the students and industry.