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After an 830km flight lasting a total of 19 hours and eight minutes, pilot Bertrand Piccard safely landed solar aircraft Solar Impulse HB-SIA in Rabat-Salé international airport, Morocco.
Pilot successfully lands Solar Impulse aircraft in Morocco
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19 hours for an 830km flight by plane? Thats quicker than some low cost airlines!
This is remarkable in that solar power is all that it needs, and 19 hours is quite a long ride. Apparently, airspeed is a bit lacking, but I am sure this was not first priority in the design of such craft.
40 Kmh?
Hmmm, faster than a ship. Perhaps of use as an unmanned cargo aircraft if this technology is combined with that of military drones?
Why?…What purpose is served by this flight. All it does is demonsrtate how slow a solar powered aircraft is (Av speed just over 43 kph). Far better to demonstrate such a crafts ability to remain aloft almost indefinitely. Which by the way has already been well proven. So, again, why?
You ask why? Fifty years ago this flight was inconceivable. The Wright brothers first aircraft flew at about the same speed and for only a few hundred feet. Fifty years after that, aircraft were breaking the sound barrier and flying nearly halfway around the world. This flight demonstrates advancement of the technology. Fifty years from now my grandchildren will be seeing practical use of such aircraft.
This is great to see. Such enthusiasm about using a free power resource for transportation will someday change the world. Perhaps this technology will evolve enough to be able to transport cargo.
Am I missing something here!
Solar, it’s flying at night? do they mean battery powered?
Don’t get me wrong I am impressed with craft, I just think the reporting is a little thin, this is supposed to be written for engineers.
Ian Poskitt
Must be a very delightful gift on the occassion of WORLD ENVIRINMENT DAY.
Excellent …great achievement …all the engineers and technicians and the Pilot who flew the aircraft….it is a significant step..Congratulations !!!!!
Some data on battery capacity and power drain would be interesting. To be truly solar powered the state of battery charge should be the same at beginning and end of flight.
@poskitt.
Have a look at the .pdf referenced in the article. Lots of useful stuff in that.
I find the ability to control and obtain the feedback signals over the distances involved quite mind-boggling.
Robin
There is a fundamental limit to the amount of energy that may be extracted from sunlight falling upon a ‘collector’ be it solar or thermal. This limit cannot be exceeded unless some form of concentrator is involved. This is why solar enrgy for powering heavier than air flying machines is, and will always remain, impractical. For powering Airships, maybe, but why are they not already well established as they have been around a while. As for flight duration, I believe unpowered gliders already make overnight flights. Using solar power merely adds weight to what is effectively a glider. This flight has no useful purpose other than another expensive ‘technology demonstrator’ burning up money, possibly taxpayer’s money! It’s about time some serious multi-disciplined engineers were required to vet all such projects prior to grants or other money being wasted on useless schemes such as this.
Some reference in the comments here to possible use as a cargo carrier… maybe a very light cargo, horse feathers perhaps. More likely applications are weather and spying related. Quite an achievement in any case!
Next 10-20 years will be very important for these solar powered planes and are expected to be doing commercial business.The use of nanotechnology will enable lighter, stronger and thermally suitable materials on the one hand and nano-based very efficient solar cells on the other. The nano-based sensing, electronic and communication equipment will be lighter and more reliable will enable the availability of such planes competing with the present aeroplanes. Nanotechnology is another Industrial Revolution snd certainly going to play important role in aviation technology too, wether it is defence or civil aviation.
Nanotechnology is going to influence our socio-economic life for the next 40-50 years and all such wonders will be seen by our grand children.
Noor M Butt,
Chairman and Professor,
Preston Institute of Nano Science and Technology(PINSAT),
Preston University,
Islamabad.