The first, fully-solar-powered plane completed its maiden flight yesterday, flying for 87 minutes in the skies over Switzerland.
Solar Impulse HB-SIA, which has an enormous, 63-meter wingspan covered with solar cells, slowly climbed up to 1200 meters where German test pilot Markus Scherdel executed several maneuvers to familiarize himself with the controls before attempting the planes first landing.
“This first flight was for me a very intense moment!” Scherdel said. “The HB-SIA behaved just as
the flight simulator told us! Despite its immense size and feather
weight, the aircraft’s controllability matches our expectations!”
The short-term mission of Solar Impulse is to validate the selected construction technologies and procedures. If the results are conclusive, it could make a 36-hour flight–the equivalent of a complete day-night-day cycle–in 2010 without any fuel.
The goal is to eventually fly Solar Impulse around the world, with stopovers along the way to exhibit the plane and its technology.
“We still have a long way to go until the night flights and an even longer way before flying round the world, but today, thanks to the extraordinary work of an entire team, an essential step towards achieving our vision has been taken”, adds Solar Impulse Chairman and initiator Bertrand Piccard. “Our future depends on our ability to convert rapidly to the use of renewable energies. Solar Impulse is intended to demonstrate what can be done already today by using these energies and applying new technologies that can save natural resources.”
A similar project–a solar boat–is also being built by a Swiss team called Planet Solar. The boat was launched last week and is expected to make its maiden voyage in the next few months.
Read additional coverage of Solar Impulse at the link below.
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