Solar-Powered Airplane Completes First International Flight

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday May 15, 2011 @12:57PM from the icarus-airlines dept.

liqs8143 writes "Solar Impulse, a fully solar-powered airplane, has completed its first international solar-powered flight. After a flight lasting 12 hours 59 minutes at an altitude of 12,400 feet, using no fuel and propelled by solar energy alone, Solar Impulse HB-SIA landed safely in Brussels, Switzerland. After the landing, company co-founder Bertrand Piccard said, 'Our goal is to create a revolution in the minds of the people . . . to promote solar energies — not necessarily a revolution in aviation.' Compared with 2003, energy efficiency has increased from 16 to 22 percent. And the cells are now half as thick. The project has a total cost of $88 million, which is funded by mostly-Swiss partners and public donations."

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Big deal by solarfreek · 2011-05-15 14:00 · Score: 0, Troll

A glider can soar for whole day if it has no pilot and sufficient wings. And they managed to fly from one puny country to another. I can set up an international flight using a paper plane. I just go close to the border and throw it. (Although border patrol might then held me up for suspicion of illegal transport of goods)