New Solar Plane Aims for Round-the-World Flight

[Buster's Uncle]

New Solar Plane Aims for Round-the-World Flight
LiveScience.com
By Denise Chow, Staff Writer  26 minutes ago



Solar Impulse 2, the solar-powered plane that will be used to fly around the world in 2015, was unveiled in a ceremony on April 9, 2014.



A new solar-powered plane that will be used to fly around the world in five consecutive days without using any fuel was unveiled today (April 9) in Switzerland.

Pilots André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard revealed the futuristic flying machine in a ceremony in Payerne before an audience of industry officials, reporters and dignitaries. The solar plane, named Solar Impulse 2, will be used to circumnavigate the globe in 2015, with the Swiss pilots hoping to accomplish the first around-the-world flight in a solar-powered aircraft.

"Today, we are one step closer to our dream of flying around the world on solar power," Piccard said at today's event.

Piccard described his pride in showcasing the Solar Impulse 2 plane, and said the aircraft represents true pioneering spirit, as many aviation experts initially said it would be impossible to engineer such a lightweight but resilient solar plane.

"When Solar Impulse was born 12 years ago, and we could show the enormous wings and the light weight of its structure on computer designs, all the specialists in the world of aviation started to laugh," he said. "Today, this airplane exists. It's the most incredible airplane of its time. It can fly with no fuel, day and night, and we hope that we can make it around the world."

Last year, Borschberg and Piccard flew a first-generation prototype of the Solar Impulse plane on a record-setting coast-to-coast flight across the United States. The journey from California to New York took two months, and included five planned stops. Solar Impulse ended its cross-country flight in New York City, touching down at John F. Kennedy International Airport on July 6, 2013.



Solar Impulse 2's wingspan stretches 236 feet (72 meters), which is longer than a Boeing 747 commercial jet.


The Solar Impulse planes are the first to be able to fly day and night without any onboard fuel. The ultra-lightweight planes are powered entirely by solar panels and batteries, which charge during the day to allow the plane to fly even when the sun goes down.

Since last year's flight, engineers have made adjustments to the design of the solar plane in preparation for the around-the-world mission. Since Borschberg and Piccard will be flying for longer periods, and across greater distances, engineers worked to improve the quality of the plane's onboard batteries and used revolutionary materials to lighten the plane, thereby making Solar Impulse 2 more energy-efficient.

Solar Impulse 2 has a wingspan that stretches 236 feet (72 meters), longer than a Boeing 747 commercial jet. The wings are covered with 17,000 solar cells that power the plane's various systems, according to company officials.

The upgraded aircraft also features a larger cockpit with better ergonomic designs, which will help Borschberg and Piccard live comfortably in the space during the nearly weeklong flight.

Solar Impulse 2 will undergo a series of test flights in May, followed by training flights over Switzerland, company officials said. Borschberg and Piccard are aiming to begin their round-the-world journey in March 2015.

The plane will take off from the Gulf region, and will fly over the Arabian Sea, China, the Pacific Ocean, the United States, the Atlantic Ocean and Southern Europe or North Africa, Solar Impulse officials said. Landings will be made every few days to change pilots and to accommodate outreach events with participating governments and schools.

The Solar Impulse initiative is designed to raise awareness about and demonstrate the potential of clean energy solutions.

"Solar Impulse is one example of what we can do when we believe that we can achieve the impossible, and this brings hope," Piccard said. "But part of this hope is about clean technologies — technologies that allow [us] to protect humankind."


http://news.yahoo.com/solar-plane-aims-round-world-flight-175645533.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Swiss unveil new solar plane for global flight
Associated Press
By JOHN HEILPRIN  6 hours ago



A Swiss team planning to complete the first round-the-world solar flight next year unveiled a new version of their unique 'Solar Impulse' aircraft, which they say could remain in the air indefinitely. (April 9)



PAYERNE, Switzerland (AP) — The Swiss-made airplane built for the first round-the-world solar flight has wings longer than a Boeing 747 jumbo jet yet weighs only about as much as a large car.

The Solar Impulse 2, unveiled to the world Wednesday at Switzerland's Payerne Air Force Base, is a bigger and better version of the single-seater prototype that first took flight five years ago.

The original plane demonstrated that a solar-powered plane can fly through the night, hop from Europe to Africa and cross the width of the United States.

But its successor needs to be able to stay in the air far longer, because the pilots expect the lumbering aircraft to take at least five days and five nights to cross the Pacific and Atlantic oceans on its journey around the globe next year.

The new version can theoretically stay airborne indefinitely, according to Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, who founded the Solar Impulse project over a decade ago. Piccard and Borschberg, who will pilot the plane, admit that now they are the weakest link.

To help them, the plane has an autopilot function, a toilet, a comfortable business-class seat and enough space in the ergonomic cockpit for the pilot to lie down and either exercise a little bit, or get some rest.



Solar Impulse's CEO and pilot Andre Borschberg, right, and Solar Impulse's founder, chairman and pilot Bertrand Piccard, left, shake hands in front of the new experimental aircraft "Solar Impulse 2", during the official presentation at the airbase in Payerne, Switzerland, Wednesday, April 9, 2014. The aircraft is the second solar plane of the Solar Impulse project. The Swiss team is planning to complete the first round-the-world solar flight next year with this plane, which they say could remain in the air indefinitely. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)


"I mean, the airplane can fly a month. The question is, What can the pilot do?" Borschberg said in an Associated Press interview. "So we have a sustainable airplane in terms of energy; we need to develop a sustainable pilot now."

American businessman and adventurer Steve Fossett completed the longest nonstop flight in aviation history in 2006, flying 26,389 miles in about 76 hours but stopping early because of mechanical problems.

Compared to its predecessor, Solar Impulse 2 has better batteries for storing energy soaked up from the sun by the roughly 17,200 solar cells that cover the massive wings, which at 72 meters (236 feet) are equal to those of the largest passenger airplanes.

The wingspan, in fact, is eight meters longer than the first prototype — longer even than the wings of a Boeing 747 — but the entire airplane still weighs only 2.3 metric tons (2.54 tons), about the same as a family vehicle. To maintain its weight budget, the materials in the updated plane are lighter than before, and it has more efficient electric motors.

That's important, because while the journey will be broken up into several stages, the aircraft's maximum speed of 140 kilometers per hour (87 mph) means it will have to stay in the air for several days in a row during the long transoceanic legs.



Visitors walk under the new experimental aircraft "Solar Impulse 2" during the official presentation at the airbase in Payerne, Switzerland, Wednesday, April 9, 2014. The aircraft is the second solar plane of the Solar Impulse project. A Swiss team with pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg is planning to complete the first round-the-world solar flight next year with this plane, which they say could remain in the air indefinitely. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)


"I think we're going to be in this cockpit being aware of the privilege it is to fly in the first and only airplane that can stay in the air forever," Piccard told AP.

Borschberg said the trip next year would take about 20 flying days, spread over three months. The pilots said they wanted to unveil the plane now because they just finished building it and will test it during May and June.

The first plane needed perfect weather each day to recharge the battery, and it was smaller and not built to be as trouble-free.

The new plane can cross small cloud layers, and "if it's partly cloudy during the day we can cope with that as well," Borschberg told AP. It can't fly in thunderstorms, but because it has no fuel restrictions the pilots can more easily wait out bad weather.

Borschberg said the pilots are training to fly long periods in a flight simulator, then resting for very short periods, using yoga, meditation, and breathing techniques. In simulations the pilots also are experimenting, he said, with flying four days and sleeping just two hours a day, split into 20-minute stages.

"It's learning how do I feel, how do I react when I am too tired? It's an exploration of oneself at the same time," he said.

The solitary nature of the flight could be a problem. But adding a second seat would have meant adding too much weight to the plane because another parachute and more oxygen, water and food also would have been needed.

The purpose of the round-the-world flight is to showcase cutting-edge renewable technologies developed by some 80 companies involved in the project. The plane is so energy efficient, Piccard said, that if its various technologies were deployed elsewhere the world could halve its energy use in transportation, construction, housing, heating and cooling, and lighting.

"What we really wanted to demonstrate is how many incredible things we can make with renewable energies, with clean technologies," he said. "Because so often we believe that clean technologies is a limit, for comfort, for mobility, for prosperity. And it's the opposite."


http://news.yahoo.com/swiss-unveil-solar-plane-global-flight-133451560.html