Manned Solar Plane Scheduled To Fly At Night
June 16th, 2010 - 7:34 pm ICT by Pen Men At Work
June 16, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): A plane totally fuelled by solar energy will be taking off into the night very soon, at the end of June, this year. This will be the very first flight of a solar plane which will be manned. The exact date of the flight has not been decided on as yet but it will have to a very sunny day indeed! The Solar Impact team is all set to monitor the take off from an airfield in Switzerland.
The plane is expected to just fly around for some time in order to fully charge its batteries which will have to hold out till dawn.
Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg are the brains behind this unique flight as they expressed a wish to show that solar planes can fly to its destination even during the night. The use of solar power had been hailed as the an ideal source of renewable energy and the entire demonstration will highlight its non-dependence on oil.
The plane known as the HB-SIA will have an engine that will be comparable to a jumbo jet but will be considerably lighter in weight.
The first, in the series of such demonstrative flights, had taken place in 2009, traversing a distance of 300m and not flying too high at 2 ft up in the sky. Most of such flights lasted for a short duration with a full day’s flight taking place on April 7, this year.
Mr Borschberg is expected to be at the helm when the first night flight takes off. They also have plans of flying across the Atlantic in a similar plane, two years from now.
- Solar plane set for test flight in night sky - Jun 17, 2010
- Swiss solar powered aircraft begins first international flight - May 13, 2011
- Solar plane takes off for test flight - Jul 08, 2010
- Solar plane to make first cross-continent flight - Apr 25, 2012
- Solar-powered plane attempts intercontinental flight - May 25, 2012
- Solar plane successfully makes first test flight - Apr 08, 2010
- Solar Plane Being Readied For Nocturnal Flight - Jun 16, 2010
- Solar-powered plane set for world tour - Oct 15, 2010
- Swiss solar plane makes first flight - Apr 07, 2010
- Swiss team plans to fly solar plane all night - Jun 16, 2010
- Solar plane lands after first night flight (Lead, changing dateline) - Jul 08, 2010
- Solar plane to soon fly around the world - Jun 26, 2009
- Solar Plane lands safely after a 24-hour flight - Jul 11, 2010
- Solar Plane Lands Subsequent To The Attainment Of Its Initial 24-Hour Flight - Jul 11, 2010
- Solar Plane Lands Safely After Flying Through The Night - Jul 11, 2010
Tags: batteries, bertrand piccard, brains, demonstration, dependence on oil, first flight, first night, helm, impact team, jumbo jet, men at work, night flight, pen men, planes, sia, solar energy, solar impact, solar power, source of renewable energy, sunny day