Solar Impulse Takes Flight

Take flight in the Solar Impulse

This week, history was made!

The “Solar Impulse,” a $76 million dollar project sponsored by Betrand Piccard finally took flight!  The Solar Powered plane included approximately 12,000 solar panels, as well as batteries and motors.  Traveling at a speed of up to 44 miles per hour, the Solar Impulse was airborne for about one hour.  It took off and landed at Payerne Airport in Switzerland.

When it landed, the solar plane was met with cheers!

The Solar Impulse is a pretty large “small aircraft.”  It boasts a 240-foot (73.15m) wingspan, the size of a jumbo jet. With just the pilot on board, it took off Wednesday, April 7, 2010, at 45.8kph.  The plane reached a height of 975 meters, for the majority of the flight.

A new horizon for the Solar Impulse

The creator of the Solar Impulse, Bertrand Piccard, hopes to fly around the world powered just by solar energy just two years from now.

After this week’s flight, it doesn’t seem too far fetched!  The biggest hurdle for the pilot of the Solar Impulse this week was staying warm.

I just love this entry on the blog of the official website:

According to our test pilot Markus the HB-SIA felt stable and controllable from the very beginning. All four engines worked extremely well during the whole flight and the solar plane showed climbing skills exceeding the expectations. For Claude Nicollier, leader of the flight test team, the maiden flight was nothing less than a “huge success. We reached all objectives, especially the safe landing, which was our main purpose.” And finally André and Bertrand thanked the whole team for its dedication to this project. “Let’s preserve this moment in our hearts. It will give us the force and the motivation to achieve our goals.”

You can get up-to-the-minute updates by following the Solar Impulse on Facebook.

Tags: betrand piccard, solar impulse, solar impulse first flight, solar plane, solar powered plane