British major aerospace and defence group BAE Systems (BAES) announced on Wednesday that its MAGMA unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had become the first aircraft ever to be manoeuvred in flight using “blown air”. The MAGMA has been designed and developed by University of Manchester researchers and BAES engineers, with the test flights taking place from Llanbedr Airfield in north-west Wales.

The MAGMA actually successfully used two blown air technologies during its test flights last month. These were wing circulation control and fluidic thrust vectoring.

Wing circulation control draws air from the UAV’s jet engine and blows it, at supersonic speed, through narrow slots in the specially-shaped trailing edge of the wing.  This technology replaces the mechanically operated ailerons and flaps on conventional aircraft.

Fluidic thrust vectoring deflects the flow of the jet engine’s exhaust by blowing air jets into this exhaust. This technology replaces the elevators found on conventional aircraft.

Blown air flight control technologies would eliminate complex mechanical flight control systems, making aircraft lighter, more reliable and so cheaper to operate. For military aircraft, these technologies would increase stealth, by reducing the number of gaps and edges on the airframe, created by control surfaces, which reduce the stealthiness of current aircraft.

MAGMA is part of a long-term cooperative programme (on the development of flap-free flight technologies) between BAES, UK universities and the British government. The data from the MAGMA trials will be used to develop subsequent research projects, while helping ensure that the UK would have the right aerospace technologies and skills for the future, and could be incorporated into Britain’s Future Combat Air System (a separate project, on which BAES is also working, under a UK Ministry of Defence contract).

“MAGMA is a great example of how collaborating with bright minds at British universities can deliver ground-breaking research and innovation,” affirmed BAE Systems air chief technologist Julia Sutcliffe. “Our partnership with the University of Manchester has identified cutting-edge technology, in this case flap-free flight, and turned what began as a feasibility study into a proven capability in just a number of months.”

“We are excited to have been part of a long-standing effort to change the way in which aircraft can be controlled, going all the way back to the invention of wing warping by the Wright brothers,” enthused University of Manchester MAGAM project leader Bill Crowther. “It’s been a great project for students to be part of, highlighting that real innovation in engineering is more about finding practical solutions to many hundreds of small technical challenges than having single moments of inspiration.”