Solar-Powered Flight Around the World Takes Off

Swiss solar plane takes off at the airport in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Monday morning, marking the beginning of the first attempt to fly around the world without a drop of fuel. Founder of Solar Impulse André Borschberg at the controls of the car when it took off from Al Bateen Airport Business. Borschberg pilot commitment to the co-founder of Solar Impulse Bertrand Piccard during stops on a journey that will take months.

With its wings stretched wide to capture the sun’s energy, a solar airplane made in Switzerland took off from Abu Dhabi just after dawn on Monday in a historic first attempt to fly around the world without a drop of fossil fuel.

Founder of Solar Impulse André Borschberg was in control of the car aircraft when heavy in the air in Al Bateen Airport Business. Borschberg pilot commitment to the co-founder of Solar Impulse Bertrand Piccard during stops on a journey of 35,000 kilometers (21,700 miles).

Some stages of the journey, as the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, will result in five days and five nights of solo flight. The two pilots have trained hard for this trip, which will last 25 days of theft of more than five months before the Spruce Goose renewable energy yields in Abu Dhabi in late July or August.

“It’s also exciting because you know you’re faking, calculate, you would think, but nothing beats the test and do in real time,” said Borschberg few hours before takeoff. “I’m sure we all are confident and hope to be able to see us here in five months.”

Two aircraft Solar Impulse, a larger version of a prototype car that first flight five years ago, has a wingspan of 72 meters (236 feet) above the Boeing 747. Built in the wings are 17,248 ultra-efficient solar cells transfer solar energy to the four electric motors that drive the propellers of the aircraft. Solar cells also recharge four batteries lithium polymer.

2,300 kg (5.070 lbs), the Si2 weighs almost as much as a van or midsize truck. 747 compared vacuum, weighs about 180,000 kg (400,000 pounds).

Si2 goes first near Muscat, Oman, where he will land after 10 hours of flying. A typical air passengers takes only an hour to do the same trip. Piccard said the best speed for light Si2 – carbon fiber – is about 25 knots or 45 kilometers per hour (28 mph).

Borschberg and Piccard yoga practice self-hypnosis to calm their minds and manage fatigue during long flights alone. They are designed to rest a maximum of 20 minutes at a time, repeating naps 12 times over a period of 24 hours. Glasses worn on the pilot’s eyes to wake lights flashing.

Neither pilot be able to stay in the cabin during the flight, but the seat reclines to stretch and cushion can be removed for access to the toilets.

Bracelets under their costumes buzz if the plane is not flying level. The non-pressurized airplane cabin Borschberg and Piccard will be able to sense temperature changes. Oxygen levels in the blood of the pilot will be monitored and sent back to earth constantly control.

The plane will reach an altitude of about 28,000 feet (8,500 meters) during the day to catch the sunlight and night diving to 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) to fly over the ocean.

“You have to make the cabin as your own home for a week in the air,” Piccard said he told the Associated Press that keep some small souvenirs of his friends with him on the flight, but refused to do.

Piccard is no stranger to the feats of aviation. In 1999, he and another man managed in the first nonstop around the globe.

After two stops in India, Si2 travel to China, where he remained for a month until the days are longer to capture more energy from the sun. It will also make stops in Myanmar, Hawaii, Phoenix, Arizona and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The road across the Atlantic depend on time and can include stops in southern Europe and Morocco.

The curious can follow the aircraft on the website of Solar Impulse and monitor battery status, power consumption, location and flight path and the way the driver asleep and the amount of food and water, was. There is also a live broadcast of the control room based in Monaco aircraft with occasional pictures of the cabin.

Borschberg and Piccard say that flying is “making the world face the Conference on Climate Change United Nations, which will define the new Kyoto Protocol in December 2015 in Paris.” It is expected that all countries have targets for a new global climate agreement at the meeting.

Solar Impulse is compatible with Prince Albert of Monaco was present in the control center of the aircraft during takeoff Monday. The Masdar UAE, clean energy company of the Government of Abu Dhabi, is a major sponsor of the flight. Additional sponsors include Omega, Google and Moet Hennessey, among others.

When the plane waiting on the runway, a brief electric alarm threatened to delay the launch, but resolved quickly, allowing the plane generally slowly in the rising sun.

“Everyone was waiting for the plane is going to go,” Piccard said. “Now began the adventure.”