PAYERNE (Switzerland) (AFP) – experimental aircraft powered by solar energy Solar Panel Impulse flew Wednesday morning from Switzerland for a flight expected to last 25 hours non-stop day and night, the weather conditions remain favorable.
“So far, fingers crossed, everything is going extremely well. (…) On the mountains we have no clouds, the sky is completely clear,” said the Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard, who conceived the project.
The intensity of the sun is such that the pilot and co-founder of the Andre Borschberg had to turn off the part of the device that recharges the lithium polymer 400 kg, said Mr. Piccard, who made the first round the-world balloon non-stop, there are more than ten years.
For clear skies, Solar Impulse lunged at 6:51 (4:51 GMT) at a speed of 35 km / h, the runway at the military base of Payerne, in western Switzerland.
“The conditions here are really wonderful, I feel great,” said Mr. Borschberg AFP by radio, while flying over the Jura mountains at an altitude of 3,300 meters.
“I dreamed of this moment for seven years of work necessary to develop this project. The whole team was waiting for this very special day and I can tell you that I take this opportunity,” he said.
As the only energy source, the device needed only 90 m off uses 12,000 photovoltaic cells covering its wings, which provide power four electric motors of an output of 10 hp each. They also help recharge the batteries of the aircraft.
“The goal is to fly without fuel. The goal is to show that we can be much less dependent on fossil energy than what we usually think, I have done the dream : flying over the Switzerland like playing flying game in my Dell inspiron 1420 battery” said Piccard.
Andre Borschberg, former fighter pilot, should remain between 25 and 27 hours in the air at an altitude of over 8,500 meters without an autopilot.
At midday, the aircraft had reached an altitude of 4075 meters.
The ground control team must decide before sunset if the pilot continued his journey by night. This decision will depend on the ability of sunlight to recharge the batteries of the aircraft during the day and the threat of strong winds aloft, the official said the flight control and former astronaut Claude Nicollier.
In case of problems, the plane, whose wings are the size of those of an Airbus A340 (63.40 meters) and weighing 1,600 pounds, will join her site off before 22:00 local time (2000 GMT) , the plane model was designed in my Dell inspiron 1545 battery says Piccard.
The flight is followed by the International Aeronautical Federation (IAF) which stores records in aviation.
A first attempt at takeoff was canceled last Thursday one hour before the scheduled departure due to a failure of an electronic component that has since been replaced.
Solar Impulse had succeeded on April 7 in Switzerland its first flight about half past one, the first step in a series of tests. The team of about 70 people perform other account to calibrate the machine and eventually build a second unit which will tour the world in five phases by 2013 or 2014 rather than 2012 as previously announced.
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