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| Solar Impulse - continental flight powered by the sun |
advanced sun-powered aircraft.
This project reveals the same determination as those early aviators demonstrated. Solar Impulse's latest flight lasted some 20 hours taking the pilot from California to Phoenix, Arizona.
The plane often flies high at 27,000 feet to maximise the solar charging ability. With a tailwind it can manage 110 kph, although the regular cruise speed is around 70 kph.
It's light, around the weight of a small car, so it does tend to get buffeted by wind, it doesn't fly well in cloud and it takes a skillful pilot to keep this one airborne.Solar Impulse flew for 26 hours on its maiden flight. That is an incredible time for a pilot to stay alert but it does show the amazing range of this aircraft. The batteries allow for this epic journey as the stored power enables it to fly by day and night.
Those incredible 63 metre long wings have some 12,000 photovoltaic cells to charge the batteries.
This is an amazing aircraft and one that will no doubt break all sorts of distance records for a craft that is powered not by fossil fuels but by the electricity generated from sunlight alone.
Another example of how science is pushing the barriers of what we can expect from renewable energy sources.
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| A 63m wingspan and 12,000 photovoltaic solar cells |
Links to Solar Impulse
The Solar ImpulseThe Solar Impulse (Wikipedia)
The Solar Impulse (youTube channel)
First leg of journey - California to Arizona (Mashable)
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