rs ago
A British-built solar-powered spy plane has set an unofficial record by staying in the air for three-and-a-half days, the company behind it announced.
The Zephyr used solar power in the day and rechargeable batteries at night to beat the world record for the longest duration unmanned flight.
Defence company Qinetiq said the plane flew on autopilot for 82 hours 37 minutes, exceeding the current official world record for unmanned flight which stands at 30 hours 24 minutes set by Global Hawk in 2001 and Zephyr's previous longest flight of 54 hours achieved last year.

But a spokesman said the record was unofficial because the firm did not set out to fulfil necessary criteria to make it official.

"We were more concerned about demonstrating the technology to the customer than the record status," he said.

According to Qinetiq, the Zephyr - a high-altitude long-endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) - completed the test flight at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona on July 28-31.

Launched by hand, Zephyr is an ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre aircraft that flies on autopilot, the firm said.

By day it uses solar power generated by amorphous silicon solar panels no thicker than sheets of paper that cover the aircraft's wings.