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Sun-powered plane debuts in Switzerland
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-26 23:47 DUEBENDORF AIRFIELD, Switzerland: It has the wingspan of a Boeing 747 but weighs less than a small car. And it is powered entirely by the sun. Adventurer Bertrand Piccard on Friday unveiled the Solar Impulse, which with its sleek white wings and pink trimming aims to make history as the prototype for a solar-powered flight around the world.
"Yesterday it was a dream, today it is an airplane, tomorrow it will be an ambassador of renewable energies," said Piccard, who in 1999 copiloted the first round-the-globe nonstop balloon flight. The plane will take part in a series of test flights over the next two years, and based on the results of those a new plane will be constructed for the big takeoff, in 2012.
The budget for the project is euro70 million ($98 million), Piccard said. He and Borschberg said the plane will fly day and night using almost 12,000 solar cells, rechargeable lithium batteries and four electric motors. It will not use an ounce of fuel. But the maiden flight around the planet will take time. With the engines providing only 40 horsepower, the plane will fly almost like a scooter in the sky. It will take off at the pedestrian pace of 22 mph (35 kmh), accelerating at altitude to an average flight speed of 44 mph (70 kph). For that reason, Piccard's circumnavigation will be split up into five stages. Borschberg said the stages are five days long because of the cockpit, which was made non-pressurized to keep the weight down. "You can see it's really small," he said. "Thirty-six hours is already a challenge. It tests your patience." |