Solar-powered plane sets a 26 hour record
In freezing Alpine temperatures, almost 10,000ft above Switzerland, a small single-seater plane recently flew into the record books after a non-stop journey of 26 hours. Nothing extraordinary about that, you may think, until you realise that the aircraft was completely solar powered, proving that perpetual flight may one day be a reality.
Piloted by Andre Borschberg, the Solar Impulse took off at around 7am in the morning and stayed airborne until 9am the next day, its 4 propeller engines powered by the sun during daylight. The energy collected was stored through solar panels built into the plane’s massive wings, providing enough fuel to last throughout the night.
For Andre, it was not the most comfortable journey. Strapped into a cockpit the size of an average bathtub , he had to cope with extreme cold, thermal winds and low level turbulence, especially when flying over the Jura mountains close to the Alps at speeds of up to 75mph.
Landing was quite perilous too, as the huge wings threatened to scrape along the ground and overturn the aircraft. Fortunately, the ground crew were waiting, rushing to stabilise the wings as soon as Andre hit the runway.
Waiting to congratulate him was the team’s co-founder Bertrand Piccard whose goal is “to have a solar-powered plane flying day and night without fuel.” For Andre he had nothing but praise: “You land in a new era where people understand that with renewable energy you can do impossible things.”
Next on the agenda is an attempt to cross the Atlantic and, by 2012, Bertrand hopes to achieve the first continuous solar-powered flight around the world.
Of course, it may be some time before commercial flights are routinely fuelled by solar energy. Nevertheless, this is great news for the environment.