SOLAR PLANE An experimental plane flying around the world without a single drop of fuel landed in California after a two-and-a-half-day flight across the Pacific. Piloted by Swiss explorer and psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse 2 touched down in Mountain View. It s a new era. It's not science fiction. It's today," Piccard told after his successful voyage. " '
Because the plane travels at about the same speed as a car, the HawaiiCalifornia leg took just over 62 hours to complete. The solar plane looks like a giant high-tech dragonfly and requires near-perfect conditions to fly.
After all, it's the weather - particularly the sun - that ultimately decides the schedule of this journey, even with dozens of engineers and experts monitoring the plane's every move. "Nobody's done this before," managing director Gregory Blatt said. "There's no guidebook”. It is more than an airplane,” Piccard later said in a celebratory statement. “It is a concentration of clean technologies, a genuine flying laboratory, and illustrates that solutions exist today to meet the major challenges facing our society.” “
At around 2,300 kilograms, the carbonfiber Si2 weighs about 2,300 kilograms, about as much as a minivan or midsized truck.
Singleseat Solar Impulse 2 has 17,248 ultraefficient solar cells that transfer solar energy to four electrical motors that power the plane's propellers. The cells also recharge four lithium polymer batteries to power the plane at night.
Piccard says he's been working toward the realization of his dream for 17 years, and "the last 16 years have been more difficult than the flight itself. The flight was for me the accomplishment of this dream; We can prove the reliability of these clean renewable technologies.". At least in theory, the plane now has the ability to fly for an unlimited period, Borschberg said, with only the human factor limiting how long the plane could potentially stay on the air. When you have the possibility to fly forever, it is an incredible feeling," he said. "
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/24/solarimpulse2reachessanfranciscoafterflightacrosspacific http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/solarplanecompletesdangerous3dayflightoverthepacificocean/ www.cnn.com/2016/04/24/travel/solarimpulse2planecalifornia/ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/slideshows/sciencetechnology/solarimpulse215factsabouttheworldsfirstsolarpoweredplane/