AETHER COMPLETES ITS FIRST CAMPAIGN AS A THREE-SURFACE PLANE WITH REDUNDANT LONGITUDINAL CONTROL
Aether (Airplane in Three-Surface Configuration with Redundant Longitudinal Control) is a flying platform developed to study a specific aircraft configuration featuring three lifting surfaces, where both the canard and tail surfaces are equipped with movable control surfaces, enabling redundant longitudinal control.
Aether can be configured as either a two-surface or an equivalent three-surface aircraft, sharing the same wing, fuselage, and stability margin, thereby enabling a direct and fair comparison between the two configurations.
Between February 27 and June 5, 2025, at Mach Aurora Airfield, the Aether aircraft completed 57 flights, totaling approximately 6 flight hours, in both its two- and three-surface configurations.
This test campaign allowed for the collection of comparable static aerodynamic data between the two setups.
Results showed that the three-surface airplane with redundant longitudinal control achieved a 10% higher maximum lift-to-drag ratio than the two-surface equivalent, providing the first experimental evidence supporting the benefits of this configuration.
The aircraft was designed and tested by two master's students under the supervision of Professors Stefano Cacciola and Carlo Riboldi.