Phantom Eye UAV slated for fuel and flight tests

Boeing plans to fly its Phantom Eye long-endurance unmanned aircraft, a project which the company is funding from its own pocket in hopes of attracting defense customers, in late October or early November at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., reports Aviation Week.

A twin-engine, hydrogen-fueled demonstrator is scheduled for testing of integrated fueling and defueling and an engine test the weekend of Oct. 1-2 in a dry lake bed at Edwards.

The flight test scheduled for this fall, in which the Phantom Eye will not carry any communications or sensor payloads, seeks to establish whether the UAV can handle four days of flight at 65,000 feet.