Solar plane takes off for 24-hour test flight
Thursday, 8 July 2010
GENEVA, July 7 (AP): An experimental solar-powered plane whose makers hope to one day circle the globe using only energy collected from the sun took off for its first 24-hour test flight Wednesday.
The plane with its 262.5-foot (80-meter) wingspan left Payerne airfield in Switzerland shortly before 7 a.m. (0500 GMT; 1 a.m. EDT) after an equipment problem that delayed a previous attempt was solved, the Solar Impulse team said.
Pilot Andre Borschberg will take the prototype to an altitude of 27,900 feet (8,500 meters) by Wednesday evening, when a decision will be made whether to fly the plane through the night using solar power stored in its batteries.
"The goal of the project is to have a solar-powered plane flying day and night without fuel," said team co-founder Bertrand Piccard, adding that this test flight - the third major step after its first 'flea hop' and an extended flight earlier this year - will demonstrate whether the ultimate goal is feasible: to fly the plane around the world.
The plane with its 262.5-foot (80-meter) wingspan left Payerne airfield in Switzerland shortly before 7 a.m. (0500 GMT; 1 a.m. EDT) after an equipment problem that delayed a previous attempt was solved, the Solar Impulse team said.
Pilot Andre Borschberg will take the prototype to an altitude of 27,900 feet (8,500 meters) by Wednesday evening, when a decision will be made whether to fly the plane through the night using solar power stored in its batteries.
"The goal of the project is to have a solar-powered plane flying day and night without fuel," said team co-founder Bertrand Piccard, adding that this test flight - the third major step after its first 'flea hop' and an extended flight earlier this year - will demonstrate whether the ultimate goal is feasible: to fly the plane around the world.