Pioneering research and skills
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Flight of the Demon In 2011, Demon, an unmanned aircraft developed through EPSRC’s Strategic Partnership with BAE Systems, became the first aircraft in the world to fly without the use of flaps - and into the Guinness Book of World Records. The advantages of ‘fluidic’ flight over moving flap technology include lighter and fewer moving parts, lower maintenance, a more stealthy profile and reduced noise. The project brought together 10 universities to develop new technologies for future unmanned air vehicles and led to all-new composite airframe materials that yielded a 20 per cent weight saving over aluminium airframes. The Strategic Partnership enabled academic research to reach higher levels of technology readiness and move closer to industrial exploitation than usually possible. To download the Growth Stories app visit www.epsrc.ac.uk/growth
Image credits: iStockphoto/Demon, BAE Systems