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Solar Plane Completes 24-Hour Flight
asukasoryu writes "An experimental solar-powered plane landed safely Thursday after completing its first 24-hour test flight, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night. The record feat completes seven years of planning and brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its goal of circling the globe using only energy from the sun. The team will now set its sights on an Atlantic crossing, before attempting a round-the-world flight in 2013." We ran a story about the flight's departure yesterday.
You're right. The original Wright Flyer barely made it off the ground in optimum conditions, there's no way it would have made it in poor weather, and it certainly wouldn't get me across the country in a reasonable amount of time. Clearly this whole heavier-than-air flight nonsense is wildly impractical and we should stop trying to make it work.
Solar powered flight is evolving just like any technology, and it's currently in its infancy. It may or may not ever prove to be practical, but abandoning it just because an experimental craft has shortcomings we don't think a fully mature product should have would be silly.