Solar-powered plane lands in Hawaii after flight from Japan

[n2doc]

Source: AP

KAPOLEI, Hawaii (AP) — A plane powered by the sun's rays landed in Hawaii Friday after a record-breaking five-day journey across the Pacific Ocean from Japan.

Pilot Andre Borschberg and his single-seat aircraft landed at Kalaeloa, a small airport outside Honolulu. His 120-hour voyage from Nagoya broke the record for the world's longest nonstop solo flight, his team said. The late U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett set the previous record of 76 hours when he flew a specially-designed jet around the globe in 2006.

But Borschberg flew the Solar Impulse 2 without fuel. Instead, its wings were equipped with 17,000 solar cells that charged batteries. The plane ran on stored energy at night.

The plane's ideal flight speed is about 28 mph though that can double during the day when sun's rays are strongest. The carbon-fiber aircraft weighs over 5,000 pounds or about as much as a minivan or mid-sized truck.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dedd7bf43b934a0ca0ec3ef2b8efc27b/solar-powered-plane-due-land-hawaii-after-5-day-flight

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[Politicub]

1. Amazing - all with the power of the sun

Every penny of government energy spending should be going to solar and wind technologies.

[valerief]

4. But...but...WAR...terrah, terrah...defense contractors, war profiteering...

I mean, terrah, terrah!

[PersonNumber503602]

2. Awesome.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Well, that's a start

Take that, Dave and Charlie Koch.

[davidpdx]

5. Cool

But they definitely have to get the weight of the wings down a bit. I suppose with developing technology that will be possible.

[RushIsRot]

6. How can anyone go for such a long time without sleep?

[hunter]

7. This is aerospace engineering. So is the New Horizons craft now approaching Pluto.

I can't imagine how depressing it must be to work as an engineer or tech on some obscenely expensive turkey of a flying money-laundering-machine for the U.S. military.