Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Solar Impulse Announces Flight Across America For 2013

Posted by timothy on from the no-checked-baggage dept.

cylonlover writes "Flush with success from their 6,000-km (3,728-mile) Europe-to-Africa round-trip flight earlier this year, the duo behind the Solar Impulse solar-powered aircraft are now planning on flying it across America next spring. It will mark the first time that a solar-powered plane has traversed the country. Solar Impulse partners Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg made the official announcement this Tuesday, although the logistics of the flight have yet to be finalized. They have stated that the trip will be broken into 20-hour legs, starting at San Francisco and proceeding to New York City. As with their previous multi-leg flights, the two pilots will take turns flying the aircraft." You can read about it straight from the doers, too.

5 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. How cheap? by simonbp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is obviously a prototype, but I wonder cheap you could make an operational system? Fuel costs are the the largest component of an aircraft's operating costs, and the most variable. Relatively slow (~100 mph) solar UAVs could make a lot of sense for UPS, FedEx, etc.

    1. Re:How cheap? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      400 kg of cargo? Almost half a ton? About the payload carried around in most cars and SUV's? Not bad for local deliveries, if you can just work out a safe vertical takeoff and landing. UPS often sends trucks out carrying less than a ton of cargo!

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    2. Re:How cheap? by WWJohnBrowningDo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I guess I was still thinking inside the box and thought that GP was suggesting using these to replace the cargo jets that transfer goods between distribution centers. Now that you mentioned it, it is indeed excellent for local deliveries. No need to worry about the landing part, just parachute the package down.

      Most Fedex/UPS trucks load up once in the morning, spend all day out delivering, and return in the afternoon/evening. Solar planes can follow the same schedule; take off in the morning and land in the afternoon.

  2. Re:Challenge level: beginner by jklovanc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No they didn't. They flew mostly during the day. Notice the flight was May to July during the longer days of the year. They also spent a significant time gaining altitude using thermals and local lift conditions to conserve battery power. Evidence if this is quote from the Africa trip article.

    On its final leg from Toulouse to Payerne, Solar Impulse traveled 615 km (382 miles) in 13 hours 29 minutes at an average speed of 63 km/h (39 mph) and at an average altitude of 3,596 meters (11,800 ft).

    If the average speed was 63 km/h and it flew for 13.5 hours it should have gone 850km. Since the distance is only 615 km, where did the other 235 km go? That is almost 28% of the movement. They went to spiraling in thermals and searching for other form of lift to conserve power. It's real average speed if measured as progress toward its destination is closer to 45 km/h. Sorry but Solar Impulse is not an electric powered aircraft. It is a high performance sailplane with a very expensive electric motor to help it get from lift condition to lift condition. It's real average speed if measured as progress toward its destination is closer to 45 km/h.

    If you want to impress me do it in November-December in the Northern Hemisphere and fly in a straight line.

  3. Have we gone backwards? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Whilst impressive, we've gone a bit backwards in recent years, it was 1986 when the first aircraft successfully flew around the world, non stop, no refueling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Voyager

    Call me old, but I miss the old days when we use to circumnavigate the globe, travel to the moon, send probes to Pluto and Neptune.