Apr

Solar Plane experiment Flights Coming Next Year

Posted by admin Published in Transportation Alternatives

The I nternational Air Transport Associatio n is getting into the solar airplane commerce. Sort of.

The trade organization has become an institutional partner in Solar Impulse, a Swiss research and development consortium based at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.

Solar Impulse is developing the first plane propelled by solar energy that can take off under its own ability without generating pollution. The team has set a lofty goal: completing a continual, 36-hour day-night-day fuel-free flight at some point in 2009.

The plane, registration number HB-SIA, has been under interpretation since 2007. When completed it will have a wingspan of 200 feet (similar to that of an Airbus A340) and weigh around 3,300 pounds. The HB-SIA will travel at no more than 27 mph and fly at a maximum altitude of 27,000 feet considering its cabin will be unpressurized.

Minimizing weight is a huge challenge. Using the sun to both ability the plane during the day and charge its wing-mounted lithium batteries for night flight will require making the HB-SIA eight times lighter than any existing glider of
comparable size. To do that, the team is stripping the instrument panel down to “bare essentials” and experimenting with a variety of different carbon materials. (See our earlier post for more on the plane

and a brief history of solar flight.)

HB-SIA will manufacture its maiden analysis flight that fall and Solar Impulse hopes to total a night flight at some point in 2009. knowledge gleaned from experiment flights will guide development of a moment plane, the HB-SIB, which will be designed with the goal of flying several 24-hour cycles consecutively.

The IATA joins a range of worldly technology and financial projects involved in the project, including Solvay, Deutsche Bank, and altran. The IATA hopes to see passenger aircraft reach zero-carbon emissions within 50 years and its CEO says working with Solar Impulse will “help compose that dream a reality.”

So what kind of commitment is the IATA making to the project?

It’s going to hook Solar Impulse up with air traffic control clearance for HB-SIA pop quiz flights. Yup - an organization that represents 94 percent of all universal air traffic is going to construct some phone calls and push some paperwork to help advance the viability of solar flight.

Slow down guys. Seems like that could be a huge strain on your resources.

Renderings courtesy of Solar Impulse.