Zerofuel airplane passes first critical point

The only airplane in the world to actually create energy as it flies has just passed a critical stage in the longest and riskiest leg of its journey to circumnavigate the globe.

The only airplane in the world to actually create energy as it flies has just passed a critical stage in the longest and riskiest leg of its journey to circumnavigate the globe. Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), the worldโ€™s first completely solar-powered aircraft, has just passed from night travel into day and is now recharging its batteries.

Solar Impulse 2 is the name of a Swiss long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft project, created by Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg. At this critical stage, the batteries are at 15%, providing at least an hour of flying time. At night, the aircraft was flown at around 10,000 feet to be above the clouds and take in maximum power from the sun.

Andre is the pilot at the controls of this demanding and challenging flight that spans 120 hours completely on solar power โ€“ a feat never accomplished before in aviation. It is the longest exploration leg of the Solar Impulseโ€™s round-the-world mission and is the riskiest, because there is no place to land.

The Solar Impulse 2 has 17,000 solar cells on its wings and stores power in lithium-ion batteries that account for about 28 percent of the craft’s overall weight of around 3,527 pounds. The cockpit is small โ€“ approximately 4.5 feet wide, 6 feet long, and 5 feet high, and is unpressurized and unheated. Temperatures inside range from an extreme of -40 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The overall length of Si2 is 72 feet with a huge wingspan of 208 feet. It can reach a top speed of 50 miles per hour, but its normal cruising speed is 43 miles per hour at an altitude of around 6,000 feet.

Si2โ€™s journey began in March before arriving in Japan, flying from Abu Dhabi to India, and then China. It departed Nagoya, Japan, on Sunday night, June 28, 2015, at 18:03 UTC, and will land at the Kalaeloa Airport, a general aviation reliever airport for Honolulu International Airport. From Hawaii, the aircraft will continue its journey on to Phoenix before heading to New York and then Europe.

The goal of creators Piccard and Borschberg is not to revolutionize the aviation industry, but to demonstrate that alternative energy sources and new technologies can achieve what some consider impossible. Solar Impulse 2 wants to mobilize public enthusiasm in favor of technologies that will allow decreased dependence on fossil fuels, and induce positive emotions about renewable energies.


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Getting ready for take off


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Lift off


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Pilot in the cockpit


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Live feed communication


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Above the clouds


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View from the cockpit

Watch a continuous live feed of the flight here.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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