Solar Impulse getting off the ground during the "flea hop" test 3 December 2009

Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Solar Impulse hopped off the ground for the first time Thursday 3 December, flying 350 metres at an altitude of one metre. The team that has been building the plane broke into wild applause at the Duebendorf airport near Zurich.

The airplane, designed to be the first to fly night and day without fuel, was a dream of Bertrand Piccard’s 10 years ago, and has been developed over the past six years under the guidance of Piccard and co-founder André Borschberg. The airplane’s testing in recent weeks has been so positive, according to the men, that the team decided to go ahead with lift-off today, if briefly.

Solar Impulse, the real thing

The solar panels, developed in partnership with EPFL in Lausaanne, are on the plane but not yet connected.

It will now be dismantled, shipped to the Payerne airfield, where solar panels will be connected in early 2010.

The plane will then be ready for the next phase: its first solar test flights, “gradually increasing flight duration until it makes its first night flight using solar energy”, the team says.

If all goes well, the plane could try its first 36-hour flight in June 2010.

Background, GenevaLunch

Links to other sites: Solar Impulse, TSR (Fre)

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