Solar-Powered A/C's 1st Flight

[don]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — A solar-powered plane that has wowed aviation fans in Europe took to the skies Friday over the San Francisco Bay area in a successful test flight.

Considered the world's most advanced sun-powered plane, the Solar Impulse took off from Moffett Field in Mountain View at first light for a two-hour practice run in advance of a planned multi-city, cross-country tour.

"That's a mythical step in aviation," André Borschberg, one of the plane's pilots and creators, said about flying cross-country. "We are something like between 1915 and 1920, compared to traditional aviation, when pioneers tried these non-stop flights."
He said a flight around the world could occur in two years.

The Solar Impulse is powered by about 12,000 photovoltaic cells that cover massive wings and charge its batteries, allowing it to fly day and night without jet fuel. It has the wing span of a commercial airplane but the weight of the average family car, making it vulnerable to bad weather.

Its creators say the Solar Impulse is designed to showcase the potential of solar power and will never replace fuel-powered commercial flights. The delicate, single-seat plane cruises around 40 mph and can't fly through clouds.

Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse co-founder and chairman, said the plane should be ready for the cross-country journey on May 1, depending on the weather.

"We like nice weather. We like sunny days," Borschberg said.

Stops are planned in Phoenix, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and New York. Each flight leg will take 20 to 25 hours, with 10-day stops in each city.

Between Dallas and Washington, the plane will also stop at one of three other cities — Atlanta, Nashville or St. Louis.

Borschberg said the plane's creators are close to being able to launch the non-stop flights needed to go around the world.
Using solar power, "we are close to the notion of perpetual flight," he said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/art...#ixzz2QwgO905Y

[c1ue]

Re: Solar-Powered A/C's 1st Flight

It is cool, but let's not forget that this is essentially a publicity stunt.

The entire aircraft holds 1 person, and cannot take off if total weight is more than 4000 lbs. How much of this is PV panel, inverters, plus batteries? Not to mention structure - since it is an enormous flying wing.

The engines are 4 - 10 (ten) horsepower electric motors. Or somewhat less power than the typical outboard motor:

http://www.akmining.com/boat/evinrud...p_outboard.htm

Evinrude E-TEC 50 hp white.jpg

[LorenS]

Re: Solar-Powered A/C's 1st Flight

Orville and Wilbur did not restrict themselves to a horribly low density energy source. I'd not equate this to early 1900s aviation, I'd equate it to 1970's nuclear fusion.

[flintlock]

Re: Solar-Powered A/C's 1st Flight

Spruce Goose comes to mind for some reason.


I liked the comment " oh boy, 24/7 survellance drones".

[don]

Re: Solar-Powered A/C's 1st Flight

Spruce Goose comes to mind for some reason.

Which also flew once . . .

[GRG55]

Re: Solar-Powered A/C's 1st Flight

There's a lot more going on in electric powered flight than one might imagine given c1ue's dismissive and wholly unwarranted "publicity stunt" comment. For more than 30 years almost all of the leading edge pioneering technology changes in aviation have been coming out of the experimental aircraft community, from people's garages, workshops and hangars...materials technologies (especially composites), aerodynamic efficiency improvements, propulsion, fuels, avionics, you name it.

The first airplane to circumnavigate the globe non-stop, without refueling, was an experimental airplane funded mostly by donations from aviators like me. Some might think that was also a publicity stunt . The Rutan Voyager now hangs in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., alongside the Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St Louis, the Bell X1 and the Apollo 11 Command Module.

Pipistrel is a Slovenian based manufacturer of some incredibly efficient and creative advanced light planes. In 2007 and again in 2008 they won two flight competitions sponsored jointly by NASA and Boeing. In October 2011 they won a third competition sponsored by the CAFE Foundation (Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency) and NASA with an all-electric airplane (not solar powered though) called the Taurus G4...a four seat aircraft.




NASA Awards Historic Green Aviation Prize

NASA has awarded the largest prize in aviation history, created to inspire the development of more fuel-efficient aircraft and spark the start of a new electric airplane industry. The technologies demonstrated by the CAFE Green Flight Challenge, sponsored by Google, competitors may end up in general aviation aircraft, spawning new jobs and new industries for the 21st century.


The first place prize of $1.35 million was awarded to team Pipistrel-USA.com of State College, Pa. The second place prize of $120,000 went to team eGenius, of Ramona, Calif.


Fourteen teams originally registered for the competition. Three teams successfully met all requirements and competed in the skies over the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, Calif. The competition was managed by the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation under an agreement with NASA.


"NASA congratulates Pipistrel-USA.com for proving that ultra-efficient aviation is within our grasp," said Joe Parrish, NASA's acting chief technologist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Today we've shown that electric aircraft have moved beyond science fiction and are now in the realm of practice."


The winning aircraft had to fly 200 miles in less than two hours and use less than one gallon of fuel per occupant, or the equivalent in electricity. The first and second place teams, which were both electric-powered, achieved twice the fuel efficiency requirement of the competition, meaning they flew 200 miles using just over a half-gallon of fuel equivalent per passenger.


"Two years ago the thought of flying 200 miles at 100 mph in an electric aircraft was pure science fiction," said Jack W. Langelaan, team leader of Team Pipistrel-USA.com. "Now, we are all looking forward to the future of electric aviation."


This week's competition marks the culmination of more than two years of aircraft design, development and testing for the teams. It represents the dawn of a new era in efficient flight and is the first time that full-scale electric aircraft have performed in competition. Collectively, the competing teams invested more than $4 million in pursuit of the challenge prize purse.


"I'm proud that Pipistrel won, they've been a leader in getting these things into production, and the team really deserves it, and worked hard to win this prize," said Eric Raymond, team leader of eGenius.


NASA uses prize competitions to increase the number and diversity of the individuals, organizations and teams that are addressing a particular problem or challenge. Prize competitions stimulate private sector investment that is many times greater than the cash value of the prize and further NASA's mission by attracting interest and attention to a defined technical objective. This prize competition is part of the NASA Centennial Challenges program, part of the Space Technology Program, managed by the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist.


First Manned Electric-Powered Helicopter Flight Achieved

September 8, 2011 – Electrical and aerospace engineer Pascal Chretien has done what the entire Sikorsky corporation is still trying to accomplish: the first untethered electric-powered manned helicopter flight. Last month Chretien hovered his coaxial design helicopter 1 meter above the ground for more than two minutes. Approached by the French automotive research company Solution F to build the helicopter, in 12 months Chretein designed, built, and flew the aircraft, which is powered by lithium batteries and brushless DC motors.


To be fair Chretien’s approach to electric helicopter flight is much different than Sikorsky’s Firefly, which debuted at EAA AirVenture 2010. Sikorsky is attempting to fly a helicopter through conventional means, which involves a main rotor and tail rotor to counteract main rotor torque. This approach requires much more power, according to Gizmag’s detailed report on Chretien’s successful attempt. Sikorsky does have experience with coaxial helicopter designs, as it recently set records with its X-2.


Chretien chose the coaxial contra-rotating twin-rotor design to save weight and reduce required power output. The design also eliminates the need for a tail rotor, which, according to Chretien, uses 8 to 10 percent of the power required, especially in a hover...

[santafe2]

Re: Solar-Powered A/C's 1st Flight

There's a lot more going on in electric powered flight than one might imagine...

My thought when I saw Don's post was that this plane was an amazing piece of art and engineering. I get that it's not a practical application for solar energy. If solar cell energy density doubled we might be able to fly 10 people from place to place, mostly during the day, at 30 mph. Unlike a conventional commercial jet, a solar powered plane is basically a glider with an excellent glide ratio. Speed it up and it no longer functions optimally. The freedom of movement we have enjoyed over the last 50 years with readily accessible and affordable commercial flight is likely in some jeopardy over the next 50 years. I think this electric plane symbolizes the freedom of movement offered by flight. It will be sad if we can't come up with a more energy efficient way to move from place to place on earth.

[GRG55]

Re: Solar-Powered A/C's 1st Flight

My thought when I saw Don's post was that this plane was an amazing piece of art and engineering. I get that it's not a practical application for solar energy. If solar cell energy density doubled we might be able to fly 10 people from place to place, mostly during the day, at 30 mph. Unlike a conventional commercial jet, a solar powered plane is basically a glider with an excellent glide ratio. Speed it up and it no longer functions optimally. The freedom of movement we have enjoyed over the last 50 years with readily accessible and affordable commercial flight is likely in some jeopardy over the next 50 years. I think this electric plane symbolizes the freedom of movement offered by flight. It will be sad if we can't come up with a more energy efficient way to move from place to place on earth.

There are already commercial self-launched electric sailplanes...Lange Aviation's Antares 20E being one of the loveliest imo. I don't think a practical solar powered self-launched sailplane is too far away.

Pipistrel is working on a hybrid version of its 4-seat Panthera powered airplane. If we can someday get to another source of electric power, perhaps a fuel cell that uses a reasonable density fuel source, a viable long distance electric light aeroplane becomes possible.

The thing about aviation is that weight, aerodynamic efficiency (drag reduction) and reliability all command a premium, and result in some truly elegant engineering solutions, unlike ground based transport where everybody wants them but nobody will pay anything extra for them...

[c1ue]

Re: Solar-Powered A/C's 1st Flight

There's a lot more going on in electric powered flight than one might imagine given c1ue's dismissive and wholly unwarranted "publicity stunt" comment.

I stick with my point.

Your first example has dramatically more payload than the Solar Impulse, while the 2nd example looks like an excellent 2nd publicity stunt.

As santafe2 noted - the energy density of batteries just isn't very good. For any form of powered flight, this is a huge issue as I'd think a pilot would understand.

I'll further add: electric motors aren't a panacea either. Although theoretically they are simpler than a gasoline engine, at the same time they suffer from faults which are much harder to diagnose. Once again, I have personal experience to back this up. My little electric scooter - three times now I have brought it in because an electrical fault deadlined the control system. 2 times out of the 3, neither the shop nor the manufacturer could figure out what went wrong, and I wound up replacing the entire motor.

A last point: the concept of the solar impulse would work just as well - if not better - with a lighter than air platform. With electricity, you can generate hydrogen as well as motive power. With LIA, however, you can have much greater payload.

Given the speed of the Solar Impulse, the zeppelin might even be faster.

[don]

Is tonight the night, Charlotte?

Cross-Country Solar Plane Expedition Set for Takeoff

By DIANE CARDWELL

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — When Bertrand Piccard was growing up in Switzerland, heady discussions about the boundless potential for human endeavor were standard fare.

His grandfather, a physicist and friend of Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, had invented a special capsule so he and a partner could be first to reach the stratosphere in a balloon. His father, an engineer, helped design the submarine that made him and an American naval officer the first to plunge undersea to the earth’s crust.

“All the most incredible things seemed to be completely normal,” Mr. Piccard, a psychiatrist trained in hypnosis, said last week at Moffett Field at the NASA Ames Research Center here, preparing for his next expedition. “I thought this was the normal way to live and I was very disappointed to see that there are a lot of people who are afraid of the unknown, afraid of the doubts, afraid of the question marks.”

He went on to become part of the team that was first to circumnavigate the globe nonstop in a balloon. But when a propane shortage nearly ended his record-setting ride in 1999, he began dreaming of a way to fly day and night without fuel, an idea that has reached fruition in a featherweight solar airplane set for an initial voyage across the United States starting on Friday, weather permitting. His brainchild, the Solar Impulse, will not be the first sun-powered plane to fly; its chief distinction is its ability to go through the night.

Conceived of as a grand demonstration of what can be done with clean technologies — a Jules Verne-style adventure with a dash of P. T. Barnum thrown in — the project has more practical implications. While it could be decades, at least, before ordinary travelers line up to board solar electric planes, the technology is under consideration for drones, which risk damage each time they land to refuel.

Another venture’s solar electric plane, which seats two and could one day find a place in the sport aviation market, made its debut last week in Germany. The Sunseeker Duo from Solar Flight (founded by Eric Raymond, who also worked on the Solar Impulse project) can fly for about 12 hours at a time, said Eric Lentz-Gauthier, a pilot and spokesman for the company. And some of the technologies developed for Solar Impulse — which has a wingspan matching that of a 747 but the weight of a midsize car — are already set for commercial use, including the special batteries used to store the solar energy and the foam that insulates them.

The cockpit will fit only one, so Mr. Piccard will trade legs of the journey with his partner, André Borschberg, an engineer and entrepreneur who was a jet fighter pilot in the Swiss Air Force, flying at about 45 miles per hour for 18 to 20 hours at a time. The aircraft could theoretically fly continuously, but the pilots — despite Mr. Piccard’s apparent skill at self-hypnosis and Mr. Borschberg’s explorations of yoga and meditation — cannot.

“We have a sustainable airplane; now we have to build a sustainable pilot,” said Mr. Borschberg at a presentation at Stanford University later that day. So flight legs are limited, since the plane’s extreme sensitivity to turbulence demands a pilot’s direct attention.

The men plan stops in Phoenix, Dallas, St. Louis and Washington before a final landing at Kennedy Airport in New York around the end of June. The voyage is a precursor to a planned trip around the globe in 2015 for which the team is building a second plane, adding adjustments like an autopilot and reclining seat, to help them fly for as many as five days straight.

The two first met after Mr. Piccard presented his idea for fuel-free flight to the Swiss Institute of Technology, which put Mr. Borschberg in charge of studying the project. He ended up overseeing the aircraft’s design and construction, including its nearly 12,000 solar cells. Mr. Piccard turned to raising the $140 million in financing and sponsorship to support it (“Like in every couple, I was bringing the money in and André was spending it.”).

Solar Impulse borrows technologies from industries like semiconductor and boat manufacturing, Mr. Borschberg said. Constructed of a carbon fiber frame, monocrystalline silicon solar panels and a sheer, silver carbon wrapping, the plane is tough enough to reach almost 30,000 feet but so fragile you could put a finger through it.

“Everything is so efficient that we can fly only with the sun that we collect in the airplane,” he said.

For Mr. Piccard, the project represents another genealogical milestone. Like his grandfather and father before him, he is driven to be a pioneer.

“If you make a record, you know that it’s possible and you just want to beat the guy who did it before,” he said. “If you make a first, you have no benchmark. You don’t know if what you want to do is feasible or not. You just have to try.”

As a child, he said, he met Charles Lindbergh and heard the stories of his grandfather, who died when he was 4. He read books about exploration and space travel, building model planes and rockets, and he also learned from talking with his mother, the daughter of a cleric, about spirituality, philosophy, religion and the meaning of life. A temporary move to Florida during the launches of several Apollo space missions proved influential.

“I saw that everything was true: it was not a dream, it was not only books, it was not only nice stories but it was real,” he said. “There was the submarine of my father drifting in the Gulf Stream and the rockets going to the moon.”

But when he returned to Switzerland, he said, the American space program was in a lull so he turned to plumbing the depths of the mind instead, and became a psychiatrist. Still, he kept one foot in the world of physical exploration, he said, always trying new ways of floating through the air, including hang gliding and ballooning. He did not train as a balloon pilot, though, until he was invited in 1992 to join a trans-Atlantic race because the pilot wanted a psychiatrist aboard to help him sleep and manage stress.

Mr. Piccard loved it, he said, and saw a metaphor for life in an endeavor where the only way to steer was to change altitude, sometimes by shedding weight, throwing sand overboard.

“You also have to learn how to change altitude in the winds of life to find your way: different ways of thinking, different ways of reacting, different ways of understanding situations,” he said. “In life you have to drop your certitudes, your common assumptions, your convictions sometimes, to be more flexible to adapt to the unknown.”

will wind take her down . . .

[don]

Re: Is tonight the night, Charlotte?

Solar plane leaves Calif. on cross-country trip

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — A solar-powered airplane has taken off from Northern California on the first leg of a planned journey to several U.S. cities.

The Solar Impulse left Moffett Field in Mountain View just after dawn. It plans to stop in Phoenix, Dallas, Washington and New York. Each flight leg will take 20 to 25 hours, with 10-day stops in each city.

The plane is powered by about 12,000 photovoltaic cells that cover massive wings and charge its batteries, allowing it to fly day and night without jet fuel. But its low weight makes it vulnerable to bad weather.

[GRG55]

Re: Is tonight the night, Charlotte?

What's with the bicycle in the photo? Is that the "tug" to move it from the passenger gate to the taxiway? :-)

Solar plane leaves Calif. on cross-country trip

[don]

Re: Is tonight the night, Charlotte?

What's with the bicycle in the photo? Is that the "tug" to move it from the passenger gate to the taxiway? :-)

I assumed for the 10-hour layovers . . . .

[GRG55]

Re: Is tonight the night, Charlotte?

Solar-powered plane wraps first leg of flight across U.S


Reuters – 8 hrs ago

(Reuters) - The flight from San Francisco to Phoenix took 18 hours and 18 minutes on Saturday - and didn't use a drop of fuel.

A solar-powered airplane that developers hope eventually to pilot around the world landed safely in Phoenix on the first leg of an attempt to fly across the United States using only the sun's energy, project organizers said.

The plane, dubbed the Solar Impulse, took 18 hours and 18 minutes to reach Phoenix on the slow-speed flight, completing the first of five legs with planned stops in Dallas, St. Louis and Washington on the way to a final stop in New York.

The spindly-looking plane barely hummed as it took off Friday morning from Moffett Field, a joint civil-military airport near San Francisco.

It landed in predawn darkness at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, according to a statement on the Solar Impulse's website...

[santafe2]

Re: Is tonight the night, Charlotte?

It landed in predawn darkness at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, according to a statement on the Solar Impulse's website...

We flew out of Sky Harbor at about 1:00 today. Sorry I missed that. When we got home tonight, even my oil and gas geologist father-in-law was asking me if I'd seen the solar plane. I wish I had.