Are You Ready To Fly Solar?

By John Vlahakis

Would you fly in a plane powered by the sun? Not a hybrid plane, or one that could run on biofuels; but a craft solely powered by the sun. Imagine a plane that can stay aloft during the day, and then fly at night on the energy stored in its batteries. Science fiction? Not for two Swiss pioneers that a readying their solar plane for its flight around the world. Bertand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, co-founders of Solar Impulse announced that they would fly their solar powered plane around the world. This is a journey that began for them back in 2003. After seven years of testing and design their plane, called the Solar Impulse HB-SIA is ready for its maiden flight. The plane is comprised of a carbon skeleton covered in flexible polycarbonate skin. It weighs as much as a small car, about a ton and a half. The wings are so light that a single person can carry one of them. The two men assembled a team of 70 talented individuals in building this plane. Everyone on the team according to Borschberg is passionate about making a statement, about our global dependence on fossil fuels and the untapped promise of burgeoning green technologies. The goal is for perpetual flight at 9,000 feet around the world. The Solar Impulse HB-SIA has been taking short hop flights across the tarmac at a Swiss military base since November 2009. The Swiss Air Force has allowed them to develop and build their plane on one their bases. They have their own hanger to accommodate this project. The plane is built for one person to fly it, and the parachute for the pilot weighs more than the cockpit nose. The plane is powered by a small motorcycle engine and can achieve speeds of up to 45 mph on a sunny day. Each leg of their transcontinental flight will take 5 days and 5 nights. Slow as molasses when compared to today’s jet travel. They will attempt to fly around the world in 2012. While it’s a bright idea, the practicality of flying at 45 mph would be to slow for today’s air travel. But, like all things new, this is the first step in using solar to power a plane. The first flight in 1903 wasn’t that much faster. Give it time; we may be flying some day at close to the speed of light.