Solar plane has successful flight
Source: Agencies |
April 8, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SWISS adventurer Bertrand Piccard's team took its round-the-world solar plane prototype into the skies for the first time yesterday, with four propellers lifting the massive craft off the ground at near bicycle speed in sunny conditions.
The test flight lasted just short of one-and-a-half hours and aimed to see if the plane, with the wingspan of a Boeing 747 and the weight of a small car, could keep a straight trajectory. The team plans to fly it around the world in 2012.
"To fly without fuel, we have to make it fly in line," said Piccard, who in 1999 co-piloted the first nonstop round-the-globe balloon flight. "There might be things that go wrong - maybe a technical problem, engine failure or a part breakdown."
The takeoff and landing appeared smooth, however. At a military airport in the Swiss countryside, the "Solar Impulse" lifted off at a speed no faster than 45 kilometers per hour after only a short acceleration on the runway. It slowly gained altitude and disappeared eventually into the horizon.
The descent was even slower, as the craft hovered ahead of the runway for a couple of minutes before touching down.
The 70 million euro (US$93.5 million) project has been conducting flea-hop tests since December, taking the plane no higher than 60 centimeters in altitude and 300 meters in distance. A night flight is planned later this year, and then a new plane will be built.
Using almost 12,000 solar cells, rechargeable lithium batteries and four electric motors, Piccard and co-pilot Andre Borschberg plan to take the plane around the world, although with the engines providing only 40 horsepower, the plane will only average 70kph.
Solar flight isn't new. In 1980, the Gossamer Penguin experimental solar plane flew short demonstration flights with one pilot on board. In 1981 the Solar Challenger flew one pilot from France to England in over five hours.
(AP)
The test flight lasted just short of one-and-a-half hours and aimed to see if the plane, with the wingspan of a Boeing 747 and the weight of a small car, could keep a straight trajectory. The team plans to fly it around the world in 2012.
"To fly without fuel, we have to make it fly in line," said Piccard, who in 1999 co-piloted the first nonstop round-the-globe balloon flight. "There might be things that go wrong - maybe a technical problem, engine failure or a part breakdown."
The takeoff and landing appeared smooth, however. At a military airport in the Swiss countryside, the "Solar Impulse" lifted off at a speed no faster than 45 kilometers per hour after only a short acceleration on the runway. It slowly gained altitude and disappeared eventually into the horizon.
The descent was even slower, as the craft hovered ahead of the runway for a couple of minutes before touching down.
The 70 million euro (US$93.5 million) project has been conducting flea-hop tests since December, taking the plane no higher than 60 centimeters in altitude and 300 meters in distance. A night flight is planned later this year, and then a new plane will be built.
Using almost 12,000 solar cells, rechargeable lithium batteries and four electric motors, Piccard and co-pilot Andre Borschberg plan to take the plane around the world, although with the engines providing only 40 horsepower, the plane will only average 70kph.
Solar flight isn't new. In 1980, the Gossamer Penguin experimental solar plane flew short demonstration flights with one pilot on board. In 1981 the Solar Challenger flew one pilot from France to England in over five hours.
(AP)
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