WORLD
Solar-powered plane attempts intercontinental flight
Baku, May 25 (AZERTAC). The Swiss sun-powered aircraft Solar Impulse on Thursday took off for Morocco on its first intercontinental flight attempt without using a drop of fuel. The experimental "Solar Impulse" lifts off for its first intercontinental flight to Morocco, from an airbase in Payerne, Switzerland.
Solar Impulse's Chief Executive Officer and pilot Andre Borschberg arrives in front of the experimental aircraft before it takes off for the first intercontinental flight. Two pilots, Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, will alternately fly the solar airplane to complete the unprecedented challenge of flying for over 2,500 km without a drop of fuel. According to organizers, this flight will act as a final dress rehearsal for the 2014 round-the-world flight. It will also prepare the Solar Impulse team to face challenges of regular air traffic patterns, cooperation with international airports and logistic maintenance issues. An experimental solar-powered airplane has taken off from Switzerland, aiming to fly 1,554 miles to the Moroccan capital of Rabat and prove the capabilities of flying by the sun. Pilot Andre Borschberg took off this morning, flying the first part of the leg to Madrid, Spain, and then he will hand over the controls of the single-seater plane - which as 12,000 solar cells on the plane's massive 100ft wings - to co-pilot Bertrand Piccard. Ridiculous, unless it can at least carry mail, what good is it? If it does succeed, I wonder if NIMH memory effect will be added to the list of air accident causes. Pilot Andre Borschberg took off this morning, flying the first part of the leg to Madrid, Spain, and then he will hand over the controls of the single-seater plane - which as 12,000 solar cells on the plane's massive 100ft wings - to co-pilot Bertrand Piccard.
Pilot Andre Borschberg, who was flying the aircraft to Madrid, found it "rewarding" that the plane flies only using solar power.
The experimental sun-powered Solar Impulse airplane departed from the Swiss airfield of Payerne en route tonight for Madrid's Barajas Airport, piloted by Andre Borschberg, the flight organizers said today in an e-mail. Solar Impulse, piloted by Andre Borschberg, is expected to land in Madrid for a stopover before heading to Morocco without using a drop of fuel.