First round-the-world solar flight delayed until 2016

 

Wed, 07/15/2015 - 1:37pm

Greg Watry, Digital Reporter

 

Editorial Credit: Frederic Legrand - COMEO/Shutterstock.com

With a wingspan bigger than a Boeing 747, but weighing only a little more than a car, the Solar Impulse 2 team announced Wednesday their attempt to complete the first round-the-world solar flight will be delayed until 2016.

The announcement came after the completion of a record breaking oceanic flight from Nagoya, Japan to Kalaeloa, Hawaii, which lasted a total of 117 hrs and 52 mins. In a post on their Website, the team called the trip “the longest and most difficult leg” of the journey. The plane’s average ground speed during the leg was around 38 mph.  

While the flight was a success, the trip came at a cost. “The cost is that we overheated the batteries during the first day of flight,” said Bertrand Piccard, the founder and pilot of the aircraft, in a video.

Piccard said the battery temperature increase was due to a high climb rate and over insulation. “There was no way to decrease the temperature for the remaining duration as each daily cycle requires an ascent to (28,000 ft) and descent for optimal energy management,” according to the team.

The plane’s 17,248 solar cells supply four electric motors with energy. Additionally, the cells recharge four 70-L lithium polymer batteries.

“The flight around the world will continue next April,” Piccard said, noting that the trip will take two years rather than one.  

According to the Solar Impulse team, the project took 12 years of work, including a feasibility study, concept, design and construction; 50 engineers and technicians; 80 technological partners; more than 100 advisers and suppliers; a prototype; and a final aircraft.

Piccard, who achieved the first round-the-world nonstop balloon flight, teamed with André Borschberg, an engineer and pilot, for the Solar Impulse venture.

The flight to Hawaii was their eighth in a planned 13-flight expedition. The Solar Impulse 2 began its journey the morning of March 9, taking off from Abu Dhabi.

Thanks to the Univ. of Hawaii and the Department of Transportation the plane will remain at a hangar at the Kalaeloa Airport.

Piccard and Borschberg have started a Future Is Clean initiative with the goal of halving the world’s energy consumption by using clean technologies while creating jobs, profits and sustainable growth.

The Future Is Clean community will address the United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Paris in December.

“I really hope that the supporters will continue to support the Future Is Clean initiative and continue to collect millions of voice in favor of clean technologies,” said Piccard. “So even if Solar Impulse doesn’t fly, the spirit of Solar Impulse and the reason why we’re doing it can fly.”

Feature: Solar Impulse 2 lands in Hawaii after 118-hour non-stop flight over Pacific

 

Solar Impulse 2 is seen at Kalaeloa Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, the United States, July 3, 2015. Solar Impulse 2 (SI2), the first solar-powered aircraft in an attempt to fly around the world, safely landed at Kalaeloa Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, at 5:51 a.m. local time (1551 GMT), Friday after 118-hour non-stop flight over Pacific. (Xinhua/Zhang Chaoqun) by Zhang Chaoqun, Xue Ying HONOLULU, July 3 (Xinhua) -- With a wing span of 72 meters, the Solar Impulse 2 (SI2) flew over the sky above the Kalaeloa Airport in Honolulu early Friday morning like a huge bird. Hovering for about 4 hours above the airport, it finally landed in the first ray of sunlight before the eyes and cameras of over 100 reporters as well as more staff members and guests. When the cockpit door opened, several traditional Hawaiian flower leis were immediately put around the neck of Andre Borschberg, the 62-year-old brave pilot and CEO of the project, to show the warm welcome by local people. But it took about an hour for him to stand up and walk down the plane. "It's a very ambitious step, five days and five nights at the limit of what weather forecast can do today. I am extraordinarily happy. There are a lot of reasons, but I think the most important one is it was something that I was dreaming about since I was a kid," said Borschberg, who got a 10-minute leg massage after staying in the small cockpit for 118 hours. "One question that impressed me for the last days is that this airplane was flying without any problem, and I believe this kind of technology is extremely reliable," he said. Solar Impulse 2 pilot Bertrand Piccard(L) greets pilot Andre Borschberg after Borschberg landed at Kalaeloa Airport, Hawaii, the United States, July 3, 2015. Solar Impulse 2 (SI2), the first solar-powered aircraft in an attempt to fly around the world, safely landed at Kalaeloa Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, at 5:51 a.m. local time (1551 GMT), Friday after 118-hour non-stop flight over Pacific. (Xinhua/Zhang Chaoqun) The journey from the central Japanese city of Nagoya broke three world records -- the longest solo flight by time and the longest solar-powered flight by time and distance. SI2, the first solar-powered aircraft that attempts to fly around the world, arrived in Honolulu at 2:00 a.m. local time (1200 GMT) after finishing an 8,200-kilometer trip. But due to the poor light condition at the airport at night, it had to hover in the sky for four more hours waiting to land at dawn and landed safely at 5:51 a.m. local time (1551 GMT). Hawaii is the eighth leg of the plane's 35,000-kilometer journey around the world starting from Abu Dhabi on March 9. The idea of flying around the world with solar energy was first conceived by Bertrand Piccard after he made the first-ever non-stop round-the-world balloon flight in 1999. "Renewable energies are presented as obstacles to development. We want to show the opposite, we want to show the renewable energy, the clean energy can achieve impossible goals," Piccard told Xinhua. "That is a fantastic solution to grow, to create jobs, to make profits and also to protect the environment. And if you can fly around the world with an airplane that uses no fuel, just the power of sun, of course, this opens tremendous perspectives ... for ground transportation, for constructions of houses and everything," Piccard added. Solar Impulse 2 pilot Bertrand Piccard (L) and pilot Andre Borschberg celebrate after Borschberg landed at Kalaeloa Airport, Hawaii, the United States, July 3, 2015. Solar Impulse 2 (SI2), the first solar-powered aircraft in an attempt to fly around the world, safely landed at Kalaeloa Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, at 5:51 a.m. local time (1551 GMT), Friday after 118-hour non-stop flight over Pacific. (Xinhua/Zhang Chaoqun) The aircraft, piloted alternatively by Borschberg and Piccard, both of whom are Swiss explorers, demands over 500 flight hours or nearly three weeks in the air, spread over five months and broken up into 13 legs at speeds between 36 and 90 km per hour during the whole journey around the world. On the way to Hawaii, its average speed was around 70 kph. The 3.8-cubic-meter cockpit Borschberg stayed in was unheated and unpressurized. When he crossed the ocean, Borschberg was only able to nap for 20 minutes at a time, the maximum amount of time the solar plane can navigate automatically. In such a flight of long distance and time, Borschberg regarded the plane as his partner. "This airplane brought me from Japan, this airplane allowed me to fly five days and five nights without any difficulty. When you left, you found you had created a relationship with it. I mean it's a partner, we together found ways over this voyage. And the tiny cockpit was my home, and I felt home there, I felt great," said Borschberg. "The first 24 hours were very technical," said Borschberg, "but the second day was really getting me into the mission. It took me a while to create a relationship of trust with the airplane, which allowed me to rest and eventually sleep by periods of 20 minutes with the autopilot. The experience of flight was so intense that I could only focus on the present moment and discover how to deal with my own energy and mindset." By doing yoga and meditation, Borschberg limbered up his muscles and joints in this long-distance flight to help him remain physically and mentally alert. He looked good when he walked out of the cockpit. "Can you imagine that a solar-powered airplane without fuel can now fly longer than a jet plane," Piccard said earlier. "This is a clear message that clean technologies can achieve impossible goals." Solar Impulse 2 pilots Andre Borschberg (L) and Bertrand Piccard hold a press conference in Honolulu, the United States, on July 3, 2015. Solar Impulse 2, the first solar-powered aircraft aimed at flying around the world, landed at Kalaeloa Airport in Honolulu at 5:51 a.m. local time (1551 GMT) on Friday after 118-hour non-stop flight over the Pacific. (Xinhua/Zhang Chaoqun) Jose Andersen, a 38-year-old local resident, said he started to track the latest news of the solo flight since Monday when it left Japan for Honolulu. "The success of SI2 will give people more confidence, (and) let them know that renewable energy, such as solar energy, is reliable," said Andersen, who decided to buy a new energy car to reduce his family's dependence on fossil fuel. The plane weighs about as much as a family sedan and has 17,248 solar cells across its wingspan. SI2 initially left Nanjing, China, on May 31 for Hawaii, but was forced to land in Nagoya due to "a wall of clouds" over the Pacific. The next leg of the flight will take Borschberg and Piccard to Phoenix, Arizona before they fly together across the Atlantic on a return path to Abu Dhabi. It took 12 years to build this solar plane and the first version in 2009 broke records for heights and distances travelled by a manned solar plane. Swiss Ambassador to the United States Martin Dahinden welcomed the Solar Impulse team at the airport alongside Governor of Hawaii David Ige, who announced July 3, 2015 as the "Solar Impulse 2 Day" to remember this historical landing day. source : http://news.xinhuanet.com