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Solar Impulse completes first solar-powered international flight, Captain Piccard returns to earth
We're big fans of charming, ungainly Solar Impulse, and of Captain Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg's quest to circumnavigate the globe in a solar-powered plane. In case you missed the live stream: the Swiss flier just got a little closer to that goal by completing its first international flight, taking off near Berne, Switzerland and landing in Brussels, Belgium, just under 13 hours later. That's half the flight time of an earlier test, in which the craft's 200-foot wingspan, covered with 12,000 photovoltaic solar cells, kept it aloft for 26 hours. Of course, a controlled test flight is one thing -- making solar-powered flight commercially viable means proving your plane can successfully navigate busy airspace. To see Solar Impulse come in for a smooth landing, peep the video after the break.
Solar Impulse's first international flight is underway (live)
We've been following Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse solar-powered airplane for a few years now. Today, right now as a matter of fact, the pioneering Swiss HB-SIA aircraft with 200-foot wingspan is attempting its first international flight. The flight to Brussels began at 8:40am (0640GMT) and should conclude about 12 to 13 hours later when Andre Borshberg brings all 12,000 photovoltaic cells to the ground in a controlled (we hope) landing. If successful then we can expect the craft to take on the Atlantic, Lindbergh style, in 2012 or 2013. Hit the source link below to track Solar Impulse's position in real-time and to witness a live video feed of this historic event.
Solar Impulse returns from 24 hour test flight 26 hours later
Rest easy, fans of solar-powered aeronautics. Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse has safely returned after 26 hours in the air -- powered by nothing but the sun. The four-engine aircraft, which features 12,000 solar cells arranged on its wingspan, reached a height of almost 29,000 feet before touching down at Payerne Airport near Berne, Switzerland today. The next step? The team is going back to the woodshed, with the hope of developing a plane that will circumnavigate the globe by 2013.
Solar Impulse begins 24-hour test flight, lets you watch the whole thing live
Boy, these Franco-Swiss research teams sure do like to exhibit their work to the world. After the Large Hadron Collider crew did a live webcast of their record-breaking 7 TeV proton collisions, here's Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse gang showing off their latest feat via a live video stream. Taking off shortly before 7AM Central European Time today, the HB-SIA craft is currently cruising above the idyllic plains of Switzerland, with the plan being for it to start gently descending through the night and plopping itself back down on terra firma early in the morning. Hit the source link to track its laps in real time, replete with sporadic commentary from the monitoring crew. It's riveting stuff.
Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse completes first full test flight, nears another frontier (video)
We've tracked this solar-powered tub from its announcement last year, through its first runway tests, past the little hop that counted as its first flight, and now we've arrived at the HB-SIA's first legitimate test flight. The Solar Impulse, brainchild of one Bertrand Piccard, took the upward plunge into the skies yesterday, successfully rising to 5,500 feet and a speed of 30 knots before gliding down gently and calling the whole thing an unqualified success. You can find video of the event after the break. A nighttime test flight is planned for later this year, after which a bulkier production model will be cobbled together with the intent of reaching the final goal of circumnavigating the globe by 2012.
Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse takes flight
They said it couldn't be done. They laughed and questioned what would happen when the sun sets, but the man whose passport reads Piccard, Bertrand, and whose bold will and bald helm match a similarly named Capitaine, has now overseen the first solar-powered flight on the Solar Impulse HB-SIA. Okay, so it was 1,150 feet flown at a meter above ground level, but that's just classic Swiss caution for you, no reason not to celebrate the fact that there's now a flying tub powered purely by solar energy and promising a future of aircraft operating indefinitely -- so long as the sun doesn't forget to rise every morning. This comes mere days after the first runway tests were carried out, leading us to believe that this is one mission with a glorious chance of success.
Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse starts runway testing
Good news, kids -- the solar-powered jet with globetrotting ambitions has started sneaking out of the hangar and onto the runway for some mild exercise in the form of landing gear and taxi testing. Captained by Bertrand Piccard -- a real person -- the Solar Impulse project is still on track for a 2012 globe circumnavigation attempt powered only by the sun's rays from above and the well-wishes from below. The humongous bird is described as having "the wingspan of an Airbus and the weight of a car," and its recent outdoorsy jaunts have done nothing to dampen spirits, making that roadmap for its first flight early next year seem entirely viable. We've got no less than three videos for you after the break, but we won't mind if you only watch one.
Sunseeker II solar-powered plane begins its European tour
It's been years since Solar Flight's Sunseeker aircraft made its way around the States, and now the company's back with a new design (the aptly named Sunseeker II) and a trans-European jaunt. The solar powered aircraft weighs a mere 506 pounds fully loaded, and measures up to twenty-three feet long. Four lithium polymer batteries provide power to an 8 horsepower motor for takeoff and climbing, and once the plane hits a cruising altitude of around 3,000 feet the solar power kicks in -- with a maximum of 40 mph (or twice that with the batteries). Of course, the silent, photovoltaic revolution probably won't be reaching commercial air travel any time soon, with battery range and weight making the enterprise impossible for all but the smallest aircraft. That said, here's hoping that the work at companies like Solar Flight paves the way for bigger and better projects in the future. Video after the break.[Via Wired]
