Solar-powered airplane sets record flying 24 hrs
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
BERNE, July 12 (Commodity Online): A solar-powered airplane has completed a record-setting test flight of more than 24 hours over Switzerland.
The slender and long-winged airplane, called Solar Impulse, flew to an altitude of 28,000 feet above sea level at an average speed of 25 miles per hour, the organisers said. Solar Impulse is decked with 12,000 solar cells that collect energy during the day so that the plane's four electric motors can operate at night.
The plane was steered by Andre Borschberg, a former Swiss air force pilot, who sat in its tiny single-seat cockpit for the entire 26 hours and 9 minutes of the test flight.
"I've been a pilot for 40 years now, but this flight has been the most incredible one of my flying career," Borschberg said after he landed safely at a small airfield at Paverne near Berne, according to a statement from the project organisers. "Just sitting there and watching the battery charge level rise and rise thanks to the sun. I have just flown more than 26 hours without using a drop of fuel and without causing any pollution."
The project has been developed for the past three years by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, who in 1999 became the first person to complete a non-stop trip around the globe in a hot air balloon. His grandfather Auguste Piccard and his father, Jacques Piccard, were notable inventors and also balloonists.
With his solar-powered air plane, Piccard aims to show that renewable energies allow for unlimited flight-technically, the Solar Impulse could stay afloat forever, granted that it collects sun all day to power the batteries long enough at night.
Anil Sethi, the founder of the start-up Flisom, which produces flexible solar panels, says the achievement of Solar Impulse is thanks to advancements in cell technology.
Made of carbon fiber, the plane has a wingspan of 209 feet, similar to that of an Airbus A340, but it weighs only 3,500 pounds-less than a hundredth of the passenger plane.
The slender and long-winged airplane, called Solar Impulse, flew to an altitude of 28,000 feet above sea level at an average speed of 25 miles per hour, the organisers said. Solar Impulse is decked with 12,000 solar cells that collect energy during the day so that the plane's four electric motors can operate at night.
The plane was steered by Andre Borschberg, a former Swiss air force pilot, who sat in its tiny single-seat cockpit for the entire 26 hours and 9 minutes of the test flight.
"I've been a pilot for 40 years now, but this flight has been the most incredible one of my flying career," Borschberg said after he landed safely at a small airfield at Paverne near Berne, according to a statement from the project organisers. "Just sitting there and watching the battery charge level rise and rise thanks to the sun. I have just flown more than 26 hours without using a drop of fuel and without causing any pollution."
The project has been developed for the past three years by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, who in 1999 became the first person to complete a non-stop trip around the globe in a hot air balloon. His grandfather Auguste Piccard and his father, Jacques Piccard, were notable inventors and also balloonists.
With his solar-powered air plane, Piccard aims to show that renewable energies allow for unlimited flight-technically, the Solar Impulse could stay afloat forever, granted that it collects sun all day to power the batteries long enough at night.
Anil Sethi, the founder of the start-up Flisom, which produces flexible solar panels, says the achievement of Solar Impulse is thanks to advancements in cell technology.
Made of carbon fiber, the plane has a wingspan of 209 feet, similar to that of an Airbus A340, but it weighs only 3,500 pounds-less than a hundredth of the passenger plane.