Descriptive Finding Guide for the Roland A. Boucher Personal Papers SDASM.SC.10020
Finding aid prepared by Alan Renga
San Diego Air and Space Museum Library and Archives
10/16/2014
2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park
San Diego, CA, 92101
(619) 234-8291
Title: Roland A. Boucher Personal Papers
Identifier/Call Number: SDASM.SC.10020
Contributing Institution:
San Diego Air and Space Museum Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.36 Cubic feet
1 Box, 12” x 5” x 10.5”
Date (inclusive): 1932-2014
Abstract: Roland A. Boucher, engineer and inventor who founded AstroFlights, which worked with electric-powered radio controlled aircraft
and developed the world's first solar-powered aircraft. This is a collection pertaining photographs, slides, measurements,
correspondence, articles on AstroFlight, Hughes Aircraft solar aircraft transparencies, two notebooks with technical notes,
and a biography pertaining to Roland A. Boucher, inventor of the R/C car, the first air mobile satellite television transmission
station, and the first solar-powered airplane.
Related Archival Materials note
Located in the SDASM library are books pertaining to major topics covered in this collection. They include:
Boucher, Robert J. (1979). The quiet revolution : the complete manual of electric propulsion systems. Call number: TT 154
.B58
Images from this collection have been digitized and placed on Flickr.
Conditions Governing Access note
The collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Some copyright may be reserved. Consult with the library director for more information.
[Item], [Filing Unit], [Series Title], [Subgroups], [Record Group Title and Number], [Repository “San Diego Air & Space Museum
Library & Archives”]
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
The materials in this Collection were donated to the San Diego Air and Space Museum. The collection has been fully processed
and is open for research with no restrictions.
Roland A. Boucher, engineer and inventor who founded AstroFlights, which worked with electric-powered radio controlled aircraft
and developed the world's first solar-powered aircraft.
Roland A. Boucher (1932 - ) was born July 12, 1932 in Windham County, Connecticut. He attended the University of Connecticut
and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science, Electrical Engineering with distinctive honors in 1954, and also attended Yale
University, graduating with a Master’s of Science in Engineering in 1955.
When he graduated from Yale University, Boucher joined the Hughes Aircraft Corporation of Culver City, CA. He was assigned
to coordinate the test and evaluation of the avionics equipment used on the F-106 first line fighter aircraft then in production.
At the time, the reliability of the first two squadrons was so poor that deployment to active military bases was in doubt.
Boucher was put in charge of a task force of engineers and technicians assigned to triple the in-flight time of the squadrons.
Within ten years he rose to the position of Engineering Manager and was involved in the design of satellites for communications
and navigation, during which time he developed an improved satellite camera for meteorological photographs. He then conceived,
developed, and demonstrated the feasibility of satellite to aircraft communications at VHF frequencies. In 1968 Boucher developed
the first air mobile satellite television transmission station, used in Columbia during the 1968 visit of Pope Paul VI and
later in China during the 1972 Nixon Presidential visit.
He left employment with Hughes Aircraft Company in 1973 to form a company - Astro Flights, a manufacturer of products for
electric-powered radio controlled aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, brushless industrial motors, the world's first solar-powered
aircraft and the world's first practical electric radio controlled model airplane.. He conceived and designed the vehicle,
which demonstrated the basic design feasibility in twenty-eight flights to five figure altitudes. All flights were powered
solely by incident sunlight on the flying surfaces.
Astro Flight was awarded an DARPA contract through Lockheed in 1974 in order to build the Sunrise, the world's first solar-powered
airplane. The historic flight, powered only by sunlight, took place November 4, 1974 at Fort Irwin, California. Two Astro
Flight Astro 40 ferrite motors powered the craft via a 6:1 gearbox swinging a 36x24 wood propeller. More than one thousand
solar cells on the wing were the sole source of energy, producing roughly 450 watts of power. The craft, weighing in at 27
pounds with its 32' wingspan, had a service ceiling of 20,000 feet (6,100 m) depending on available sunlight. 1975 saw both
the departure of Roland Boucher and damage to Sunrise I in a windstorm. It also saw the introduction of the improved Sunrise
II, built in just three months. Its maiden flight was on September 27, 1975 at Nellis AFB. Improvements included a single
Astro Flight Cobalt 40 motor powered by 4480 solar cells with an output of 600 watts. Climb rate was drastically improved
at over 300 feet (91 m) per minute as was the estimated service ceiling of 75,000 feet (23,000 m), although actual flights
did not exceed 20,000 feet (6,100 m) due to problems with both command and control.
In 1975 he conceived and developed a radio controlled electric model car, and along with his wife, Nancy, formed Leisure Electronics
to manufacture and market the product. Unsuccessful at first, it soon became a big hit with toy sellers throughout the nation.
In 2000 he was inducted into the Academy of Model Aviation (AMA) Model Aviation Hall of Fame.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Boucher, Philip A., 1932-
Hughes Aircraft Company.
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Nellis Air Force Base (Nev.)
Project Sunrise
Solar Aircraft
Box 01
Flight Books
Physical Description:
1. Record book of Astro Flight, book 2
2. Record book of Astro Flight, book 1
Folder 01 - Correspondence
Physical Description:
3. Correspondence to Roland Boucher from Starr J. Colby, February 26, 1979
4. Envelope addressed to Roland Boucher from Senate California Legislature Ross Johnson
5. Correspondence to Roland Boucher from Dave Brown, President AMA, August 1, 2000
6. Correspondence to Don Lowe, President AMA from Roland Boucher, July 9, 1990
7. Correspondence to Roland Boucher from John Worth, Executive Director Academy of Model Aeronautics, February 24, 1972
Folder 02 - Articles
Physical Description:
8. Article: “SSA in Action: How About A Solar-Powered Launch”
9. Biography of Roland Boucher
10. Biography AMA of Roland Boucher
11. Article: “Electric-Motor-Powered RPVs Studied for Battlefield Recon”
12. Article: “Boucher builds first solar powered model airplane”, January 27, 1978
13. Article: “Electrical Propulsion for Control of Stationary Satellites” by Roland A. Boucher
14. Article: “Preliminary Design of a Solar-Electric Test Satellite” by Robert N. Olson and Roland A. Boucher
15. Article: “An Electric Record?” by Roland Boucher
16. Article: “Electric-powered R/C flying!”
Folder 03 - Packets and Information
Physical Description:
17. Packet: “Roland Boucher’s Quiet Revolution (with table of contents)
18. Packet: “Roland Boucher’s Quiet Revolution
19. Page: Astro Flight Inc. Pioneers in Silent Flight
20. Packet: “The MA-1 Reliability Task Force-A brief history of an attempt to triple the Reliability of the MA-1/F106 Aircraft”
by Roland A. Boucher
21. Packet: Astro Flight Inc., Pioneers in Silent Flight “Project Sunrise”
22. Packet of SPRPV-3 Baseline Configuration
Folder 04 – Photographs and Images
Physical Description:
23. Photograph: First solar powered plane, spring 1974 three years after first flight
24. Photograph: Launch of solar powered plane
25. Photograph: Roland Boucher, 1976
26. Photograph: Roland Boucher with unidentified man
27. Photocopy of picture
28. Photograph of exhibit: 6’man looks at new intelsat IV (3 copies)
29. Photograph of Roland in front of exhibit
30. Photograph of two unidentified men in front of ATS Y-1 Spacecraft (2 copies)
31. Photograph of two unidentified men in front of ATS Y-1 Spacecraft (legs on cart)
32. Photograph of two unidentified men in front of ATS Y-1 Spacecraft (one man pointing)
33. Drawing and caption of Papal ‘Courier’ mobile satellite ground station
34. Photograph of two unidentified men in front of ATS Y-1 Spacecraft (one man pointing)
35. Photograph of Roland Boucher with two unidentified men
36. Photograph of Project Sunrise workers
37. Photograph of X-GDS-2 part
38. Photograph of Roland Boucher
39. Photograph of work station
40. Photograph of Roland Boucher and two unidentified men holding model plane
41. Photocopies of original contained photographs (15 copies)
42. Photocopies of original contained photographs (3 pages)
43. Photograph of Astro Flight workers around solar plane
44. Photograph of Roland Boucher and Astro Flight workers behind solar plane
45. Photograph of man behind solar plane
46. Photograph of four Astro Flight workers and solar plane
47. Photograph of two men working on solar plane
48. Photocopies of original contained photographs (2 pages)
49. Photograph of Solar Plane “Climb Out”
50. Photograph of two model airplanes with banner reading “Leisure Electric Power”
51. Photograph of four model airplanes
52. Photograph of model airplane
53. Photograph of “Solar Array”
Folder 05 – Envelope Negatives
Physical Description:
54. Contents of an envelope containing photograph negatives, prints, and receipts
Folder 06 – Slide Copies and Originals
Physical Description:
55. Original pages of contained slides (19 pages)
56. Photocopy of slide “Flight Trials with SPRPV- I˚/IIΔ”
57. Photocopy of slide “Solar Energy Available”
58. Photocopy of graph: “Performance Estimates”
Folder 07 – Slides I
Physical Description:
59. Slide: “Project Sunrise: The World’s First Solar Airplane” VG. No. 1
60. Slide: “Minimum Power Required for Level Flight” VG. No. 2
61. Slide: “Power as a Function of Relative Speed” VG. No. 3
62. Slide: “Power Required for Level Flight” VG. No. 3A
63. Slide: “Power Required for Level Flight vs Climb Rate” VG. No. 4
64. Slide: “Relative Power Required vs Altitude” VG. No. 5
65. Slide: “Propeller Selection” VG. No. 5A
66. Slide: “Solar Energy Available” VG. No. 6
67. Slide: “Baseline Design” VG. No. 8
68. Slide: “Weight Breakdown” VG. No. 9
Folder 08 – Slides II
Physical Description:
69. Slide: “Climb Power Margin vs Altitude”
70. Slide: “Climb Profile Launch Nellis AFB June 21 8am”
71. Slide: “Performance Estimates”
72. Slide: “Daily Flight Profile Demonstration Vehicle” VG. No. 12
73. Slide: “Flight Trials with SPRPV-I˚/IIΔ” VG. No. 17
74. Slide: “First Solar-Powered RPV-SPRPV I” VG. No. 13
75. Slide: “Solar Array” VG. No. 15A
76. Slide: “Second Model” VG. No. 20
77. Slide: “17,000 ft and Climbing” VG. No. 21
78. Slide: “SPRPV-3 Baseline Configuration” VG. No. 22
79. Slide: “What Can Be Done to Improve Performance” VG. No. 23