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Swiss Countryside Sees Successful Test Flight of Solar-Powered Airplane
Image Source: Flickr.
A solar-powered plane, named the Solar Impulse, took flight for the first time. The plane is completely powered by the sun and uses no fuel; but its take-off speed is no faster than a fast moving bicycle (28 mph or 45 kph). Fortunately, this speed was enough for it to gain altitude and fade into the horizon nearly a mile above the Swiss landscape.
The flight lasted a total of 90 minutes and during the trip, the plane made a series of turns by slightly tilting its black-and-white wings (about as wide as the wings on a 747 jumbo jet). Until this flight, all previous flights were no more than 2 feet (0.6 m) high or 1,000 feet (304.8 m) in distance.
There are plans for a night flight to take place before July. Once this happens, a second plane will be built based on the results of the Solar Impulse’s flight tests. However, there is a major goal in store for the second plane. Pilots will use that plane to travel around the world in 2010—completely on solar power and without using a single drop of fuel.
For more information on the plane and test flights, check out this article.
By Heidi Marshall
Tags: no fuel, plane, Solar, Solar Impulse, solar powered airplane, Switzerland, test flights
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