Piccard's Solar Powered Plane
The solar powered plane of Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard called the Solar Impulse looks set for a round the world flight, set to take place in the next year or two. He plans to fly the plane continuously, stopping only to change pilots.The plane has an amazing wingspan of 61 meters, as large as a commercial jet liner. The wing hosts the 12,000 solar cells that power the 4 electrical engines that propel the craft. Despite the size of the machine, it has a total weight of only 1500 kg. Of that weight, 400 kg is the Lithium Ion batteries that store charge for night time and poor weather flying. Despite the seeming contradiction of flying a solar plane at night, such activity is possible because of the wingspan and lightweight construction of the vehicle. The plane can stay aloft at only 40 kilometers per hour, and the wing generates an incredible amount of lift even at this speed. With a decent headwind, the plane would probably be able to say in the air without any propulsion at all, like a giant glider. Piccard is hopeful that this great adventure will help usher in a new age of clean energy transport. Let's hope he's right.
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