{"id":97622,"date":"2015-03-09T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T09:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=97622"},"modified":"2015-03-09T09:00:32","modified_gmt":"2015-03-09T09:00:32","slug":"solar-plane-begins-epic-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/03\/solar-plane-begins-epic-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar plane begins epic journey"},"content":{"rendered":"
A record-breaking attempt to fly around the world in a solar-powered plane has got under way from Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n
The aircraft – called Solar Impulse-2 – took off from the Emirate, heading east to Muscat in Oman.<\/p>\n
Over the next five months, it will skip from continent to continent, crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in the process.<\/p>\n
Andre Borschberg was at the controls of the single-seater vehicle as it took off at 07:12 local time (03:12 GMT).<\/p>\n
He will share the pilot duties in due course with fellow Swiss, Bertrand Piccard.<\/p>\n
The plan is stop off at various locations around the globe, to rest and to carry out maintenance, and also to spread a campaigning message about clean technologies.<\/p>\n
Before taking off, Borschberg told BBC News: “I am confident we have a very special aeroplane, and it will have to be to get us across the big oceans.<\/p>\n
“We may have to fly for five days and five nights to do that, and it will be a challenge.<\/p>\n
“But we have the next two months, as we fly the legs to China, to train and prepare ourselves.”<\/p>\n
Monday’s leg to Oman will cover about 400km and take an estimated 12 hours. Details of the journey are being relayed on the internet.<\/p>\n
Lightweight plane<\/span><\/p>\n The Solar Impulse project has already set a number of world records for solar-powered flight, including making a high-profile transit of the US in 2013.<\/p>\n But the round-the-world venture is altogether more dramatic and daunting, and has required the construction of an even bigger plane than the prototype, Solar Impulse-1.<\/p>\n This new model has a wingspan of 72m, which is wider than a 747 jumbo jet. And yet, it weighs only 2.3 tonnes.<\/p>\n Its light weight will be critical to its success.<\/p>\n So, too, will the performance of the 17,000 solar cells that line the top of the wings, and the energy-dense lithium-ion batteries it will use to sustain night-time flying.<\/p>\n Operating through darkness will be particularly important when the men have to cross the Pacific and the Atlantic.<\/p>\n The slow speed of their prop-driven plane means these legs will take several days and nights of non-stop flying to complete.<\/p>\n Piccard and Borschberg – whoever is at the controls – will have to stay alert for nearly all of the time they are airborne.<\/p>\n They will be permitted only catnaps of up to 20 mins – in the same way a single-handed, round-the-world yachtsman would catch small periods of sleep.<\/p>\n They will also have to endure the physical discomfort of being confined in a cockpit that measures just 3.8 cubic metres in volume – not a lot bigger than a public telephone box.<\/p>\n