Solar Plane To Make Public Debut 76
Posted
by
kdawson
from the blackbird-flying-in-the-dead-of-night dept.
from the blackbird-flying-in-the-dead-of-night dept.
vigmeister writes "Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard has unveiled a prototype of the solar-powered plane he hopes eventually to fly around the world. The initial version, spanning 61m but weighing just 1,500kg, will undergo trials to prove it can fly at night. Dr. Piccard, who made history by circling the globe non-stop in a balloon in 1999, says he wants to demonstrate the potential of renewable energies. He expects to make a crossing of the Atlantic in 2012. The HB-SIA has the look of a glider but is on the scale of a modern airliner. The airplane incorporates composite materials to keep it extremely light and uses super-efficient solar cells, batteries, motors, and propellers to get it through the dark hours. The public unveiling on Friday of the HB-SIA took place at Dubendorf airfield near Zürich."
Helios (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Faster plane (Score:2, Informative)
There's really not much chance of achieving that - it would have to be much much faster.
The circumference of the earth is about 40 000 km. If you could start first thing in the morning, and arrive by nightfall the next day, that would allow a maximum of about 36 hours. I really don't see a solar powered plan managing 1111 km/hr.
Re:Faster plane (Score:2, Informative)
The earth is 24.8k miles in circumference, so you need to fly about 1,030 miles per hour to stay under the sun at all times.
Good luck getting a solar-powered electric prop plane to fly just under mach two.
Re:Why? (Score:3, Informative)
This guy is Bertrand Piccard [wikipedia.org], is the first man to go round the globe non-stop on a balloon. His father was Jacques Piccard [wikipedia.org], the first man that used a build and used a capsule to go down the Mariana Trench, the deepest point of the world's oceans. His grandfather was Auguste Piccard [wikipedia.org], the first man to build and used a balloon to go to the stratosphere, setting a record of 23,000 m (72,177 ft). Not to mention the other branch of the family, Jean Felix Piccard [wikipedia.org], Jeannette Piccard [wikipedia.org] and Don Piccard [wikipedia.org] who were also famous aeronauts and balloonists.