Coolio

[darwin dali]

Solar Impulse
Check out the video and the sidebar to the right, especially bottom right

[scotty]

*token Gangsta's Paradise-referencing post*

[Jabberwocky]

How is he going to do yoga in the plane?!?

[darwin dali]

How is he going to do yoga in the plane?!?

Very very carefully

[Jabberwocky]

being limited to 15 degrees of roll might be a bit limiting in bad wind (of the atmosphere not the pilot)

[darwin dali]

Solar Impulse flying over China
Pretty cool video

[sagi58]

[darwin dali]

The Solar Impulse 2 sun-powered plane, currently en route across the Pacific Ocean, has broken world records for the furthest solar-powered flight and the longest such flight performed by a solo pilot.

The records were achieved when pilot André Borschberg had flown for 80 consecutive hours – a total distance of 5,663 kilometres. American Steve Fossett had held the previous record for the longest solo solar-powered flight, which he achieved in 2006 on the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer. At that time, he flew for 76 consecutive hours.
Solar Impulse breaks solo flight and distance records

The Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) has now covered about 86% of the latest leg of its journey, from Nagoya, Japan, to Hawaii in the United States. It’s considered to be the most difficult segment of the plane’s trip around the world.

The Solar Impulse team waited in Japan for about a month while conducting repairs and watching for an ideal weather window for the Nagoya-Hawaii flight. Borschberg began the journey on June 28 but the team did not announce the plane had taken off until it had reached the “point of no return” on its flight to Hawaii, about 12 hours in.

“The first 24 hours were very technical,” Borschberg said. “It took me a while to create a relationship of trust with the airplane, which allows me to rest and eventually sleep for periods of 20 minutes with the autopilot. The experience of flight is so intense that I can only focus on the present moment and discover how to deal with my own energy and mindset.”

The plane took off from Abu Dhabi in March on the 35,000-km global journey. Overall, the trip is expected to span approximately 25 flight days broken up into 12 legs at speeds of between 50 and 100 kph.

The Si2 weighs about as much as a car but has a wingspan as wide as the largest passenger airliner. Studies, design and construction took 12 years and a first version of the craft rolled out in 2009 broke records for heights and distances travelled by a manned solar plane.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/clean-energ ... s/41525618

[darwin dali]

The Solar Impulse 2 sun-powered plane has landed in Hawaii after a historic five-day journey over the Pacific Ocean – the longest and toughest leg of its around-the world voyage.

Swiss pilot André Borschberg landed at Kalaeloa, a small airport outside Honolulu, at 5.55am local time (5.55pm Swiss time), having spent more than 120 hours in the air on solar power alone. It is the first time this feat has been accomplished in the world of aviation, Solar Impulse says.
"5 days, 5 nights, we're down," said the team's commentator on the live feed of the event, as his colleagues clapped and cheered.

Later, Borschberg appeared at the door of the cockpit, smiling, freshly shaven and with a traditional Hawaiian flower wreath around his neck. "I feel so much joy," he said of his experience.

He was met in Hawaii by his team-mate and business partner, the Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, with whom he is sharing flying duties in the single-seater plane.

He added that he did not really feel exhausted, which astonished him. He attributed this to all the messages of support he had received during the flight which "gave me energy". He was, however, looking forward to a shower, as well as meeting the organisers of the Hawaii stopover.

The record shattered the distance and duration world records for manned solar-powered planes – set by Solar Impulse itself earlier on the project. American Steve Fossett had held the previous record for the longest nonstop solo flight, which he achieved in 2006 in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. At that time, he flew for 76 consecutive hours.

The flight from Nagoya, Japan, was also the riskiest for the Solar Impulse because the plane had nowhere to land in an emergency. Borschberg had been navigating alone in an unheated and unpressurised cockpit, sleeping in bursts of 20 minutes while on autopilot.
Japan delay

The Solar Impulse team had waited in Japan for about a month while conducting repairs and waiting for an ideal weather window for the Nagoya-Hawaii flight. Borschberg began the journey on June 28 but the team did not announce the plane had taken off until it had reached the “point of no return” on its flight to Hawaii, about 12 hours in.

The 35,000-km global journey started in Abu Dhabi on March 9. Overall, the plane’s trip is expected to span roughly 25 flight days broken up into 13 legs at speeds of 50-100kph.

Piccard – who made the first non-stop global circumnavigation in a balloon – will take on the next leg from Honolulu to Phoenix, Arizona. After that there are 4 legs until the plane returns to Abu Dhabi.

The Si2 weighs about as much as a car but has a wingspan as wide as the largest passenger airliner. It is intended as a demonstration of the current powers of solar power. The pilots are thus using the project to create awareness about replacing fossil fuels with clean technologies.

“Can you imagine that a solar-powered airplane without fuel can now fly longer than a jet plane!” Piccard said in a statement earlier on Friday. “This is a clear message that clean technologies can achieve impossible goals.”

swissinfo.ch and agencies

[darwin dali]

It's done!

[sagi58]

Wow!!

p.s. is it cost efficient (i.e. building/technology vs fuel savings)?