The first test flight of Facebook’s Aquila drone went a bit awry after a 20-foot section off the massive 113-foot wingspan broke off during landing. A gust of wind knocked the drone off its flight path and the autopilot attempt to correct its course had Aquila flying faster than intended. Facebook’s engineers seem to have learned from that mistake and was able to fly the Aquila for an hour and 46 minutes. More sensors were added to the drone to gather additional data. Its auto-pilot software was modified. Spoilers were to the wings to increase drag and reduce lift during landing approach. And a horizontal propeller stopping mechanism was installed to support the successful landing.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg conceptualized Aquila back in 2014 with the idea of using this large solar-powered, high-altitude drone to connect areas in the world where it’s hard to get reliable internet access. The eventual plan is to have the drone fly up for 90 days at a time and provide internet access to an area 60 miles wide.
Source: The Verge + Tech Crunch