The Solar Impulse HB-SIA, with pilot André Borschberg at its
controls, successfully landed Thursday morning in Switzerland after
flying through the night, a first-ever feat that was heralded by the
organization which built the plane at the École Polytechnique Fédérale
de Lausanne, as a major milestone on the way to a round-the-world
flight in a solar-powered aircraft.
The plane was up in the air on Wednesday for the entire day, then
through the night, flying solely on solar energy, marking the longest
and highest in the history of solar aviation, according to the
organization. On the project’s Web site, those involved with the
project wrote the next important milestones for Solar Impulse will be
the crossing the Atlantic and the around the world flight, using the
second prototype which goes into construction this summer.
"I've been a pilot for 40 years now, but this flight has been the most
incredible one of my flying career. Just sitting there and watching the
battery charge level rise and rise thanks to the sun. And then that
suspense, not knowing whether we were going to manage to stay up in the
air the whole night. And finally the joy of seeing the sun rise and
feeling the energy beginning to circulate in the solar panels again,”
said Borschberg, CEO and co-founder of the Solar Impulse project. “I
have just flown more than 26 hours without using a drop of fuel and
without causing any pollution.”
The HB-SIA is a one-seater, capable of taking off under its own power,
and intended to remain airborne up to 36 hours, according to the
company. Building on the experience of this prototype, a slightly
larger follow-on design, HB-SIB, is planned to make circumnavigation of
the globe in 20–25 days. The team said it hopes that a round-the-world
flight will be possible in 2012. That flight would circle the world in
the northern hemisphere near the equator, with five stops are planned
to change pilots. Each leg would last three to four days, “limited by
the physiology of the human pilot.”
“Bravo André! You have just proved that what I have been dreaming about
for the last 11 years, is possible", Bertrand Piccard, initiator and
president of the project, said as the HB-SIA touched down. “This is a
crucial step forward, it gives full credibility to the speeches we hold
since years about renewable energies and CleanTechs and allows us now
to get closer to the perpetual flight without using a drop of fuel.”
Piccard then reportedly ran over to hug his partner, both men “full of
tears.”
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