“Solar Impulse” crosses the USA using only solar energy
The Swiss aircraft Solar Impulse (Solar Impulse), capable of performing round-the-clock flights using only the energy of the sun, charging batteries during the day and consuming energy at night, recently began its journey through America. The plane will cross the entire US from west to east without using a single drop of fuel.
A unique car took off from an airfield near San Francisco on May 3 at 6 a.m. PST and landed in Phoenix on Saturday night. Thus, this flight took about 18 hours, while the same distance by car could be covered in 12 hours. But it's not about speed. “We are not chasing speed,” says pilot Bertrand Picard, “we want to demonstrate that we can stay in the air for as long as we want, using only solar energy.”
There will be five intermediate stops along the route, including final destination - New York. Theoretically, the “Solar Impulse” could cross the United States without landing at all, but the organizers of the experiment decided to break the trip into several stages in order to give the pilots a break, because Currently, the device is not equipped with an autopilot. In total, the experiment will take about a month and is a “warm-up” before the big round-the-world flight on solar energy, which is due to take place in 2015.
With a small mass of 1600 kilograms (400 of which are Li-Po batteries), the aircraft has a truly huge wingspan of 63 meters (like a Boeing 747!). The surface of the wings is covered with 10 thousand single crystals forming solar panels. The average flight speed is 70 km / h, and cruising altitude is 8500 meters.
You can monitor the flight status on the official website of the project.
A unique car took off from an airfield near San Francisco on May 3 at 6 a.m. PST and landed in Phoenix on Saturday night. Thus, this flight took about 18 hours, while the same distance by car could be covered in 12 hours. But it's not about speed. “We are not chasing speed,” says pilot Bertrand Picard, “we want to demonstrate that we can stay in the air for as long as we want, using only solar energy.”
There will be five intermediate stops along the route, including final destination - New York. Theoretically, the “Solar Impulse” could cross the United States without landing at all, but the organizers of the experiment decided to break the trip into several stages in order to give the pilots a break, because Currently, the device is not equipped with an autopilot. In total, the experiment will take about a month and is a “warm-up” before the big round-the-world flight on solar energy, which is due to take place in 2015.
With a small mass of 1600 kilograms (400 of which are Li-Po batteries), the aircraft has a truly huge wingspan of 63 meters (like a Boeing 747!). The surface of the wings is covered with 10 thousand single crystals forming solar panels. The average flight speed is 70 km / h, and cruising altitude is 8500 meters.
You can monitor the flight status on the official website of the project.