What a wonderful aerospace success for the Swiss! A single seat plane powered by the sun completed a successful test flight and it shows that (in theory) it might fly indefinitely, recharging its batteries as it travels.
The Solar Impulse craft landed at 8am this morning in Switzerland after a test flight through the Swiss Alps which took off at daybreak on Wednesday. The flight shows it is possible for the plane to fly at night using stored solar power from 12,000 cells. The plane has a large wingspan of 63m yet weighs only as much as a family car. Pilot Andre Borschberg said: “Nothing can prevent us from another day and night and the myth of perpetual flight.” Project co-founder Bertrand Piccard said “When you took off it was another era. You land in a new era where people understand that with renewable energy you can do impossible things.” This really is a glorious day for aviation.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nReVWmPtNKY]
