First round-the-world SOLAR AIRPLANE

[Statistikhengst]

Just awesome:





The aircraft type is called "Solar Impulse 2".


It was developed at a military base in Switzerland by a company called "Altran".


Here is a pic of the airplane:

It is completely solar powered.

Here is the website for solar impulse:


SOLAR IMPULSE - Exploration to Change the World

They are ahead of schedule. They wanted to do a maiden flight in 2015, but it looks like they will take off in June or July of this year.


Here is a good video of a solar impulse 1 flight:




Great vid about the DESIGN of the plane, esp. the cockpit.

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Long reaching implications for our future. The airplane requires ZERO conventional fuel. It can perpetually stay in the air - at 8,000 meters. And the cockpit is made so that the pilot can stay in it for 5 days at a jaunt.


Pretty cool stuff...

 

[rightwinger]

Wasn't a round the world solar airplane done about 20 years ago?

 

[Statistikhengst]

Wasn't a round the world solar airplane done about 20 years ago?

I will research that. This company is claiming that this is a first with an airplane that is COMPLETELY solar powered. I believe the other one still need conventional fuel for part of the machinery. This one does not.

I'll get back with you on that one...

 

[Mr. H.]

Wasn't a round the world solar airplane done about 20 years ago?

You may be thinking of the Rutan/Yeager 'round the world non-stop flight on a single load of fuel. One of the greatest achievements in aviation IMO.

I've seen that aircraft at the Air and Space Museum. It's (of course) suspended from the ceiling. Brought tears to my eyes LOL.

 

[rightwinger]

Wasn't a round the world solar airplane done about 20 years ago?

You may be thinking of the Rutan/Yeager 'round the world non-stop flight on a single load of fuel. One of the greatest achievements in aviation IMO.

I've seen that aircraft at the Air and Space Museum. It's (of course) suspended from the ceiling. Brought tears to my eyes LOL.

I saw it at the Smithsonian also. I must have tied in in with some solar aircraft from that era

 

[waltky]

Swiss shootin' fer round-the-world solar flight...

Swiss-made solar plane makes maiden flight
Jun 2,`14 -- A Swiss-made solar-powered aircraft has made a successful inaugural flight as its makers prepare for what they hope will be the first round-the-world solar flight.

The Solar Impulse 2 team said the aircraft spent 2 hours and 17 minutes in the air above western Switzerland early Monday. They plan several other flights over the coming months. The Solar Impulse 2 is a bigger and better version of a single-seat prototype that first took flight five years ago. Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the project's founders, say it theoretically can stay airborne indefinitely.

German test pilot Markus Scherdel steers the solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 aircraft for its maiden flight at its base in Payerne, Switzerland Monday, June 2, 2014. The aircraft is the second solar plane of the Solar Impulse project. The main goal of the project is to circumnavigate the world with an aircraft, powered only by solar energy.

The plane soaks up energy from the sun through some 17,200 solar cells that cover its massive wings, which span 72 meters (236 feet). Piccard and Borschberg hope to fly the aircraft around the world next year.

AP Newswire | Stars and Stripes

 

[flacaltenn]

You maybe confused with "around the world in 80 days"...

 

[Old Rocks]

Wasn't a round the world solar airplane done about 20 years ago?

No, I think that was a Rutan design that flew around the world on one tank of fuel.

 

[Old Rocks]

You maybe confused with "around the world in 80 days"...

And just how does that nonsense contribute to a real conversation? The solar powered plane has some very real applications in meteorology and earth observation. The ability to stay up indefinately opens up some very interesting possibilities.

 

[Statistikhengst]

Looks like the first test flight was a big success.