Solar Impulse. Now in Payerne. © 2009 Stéphane Gros/ Solar Impulse
Update 18:55 Payerne, canton Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Solar Impulse, a solar-powered aircraft which will attempt to be the first fly around the world non-stop powered only by the sun’s energy, has arrived at the airfield in Payerne, canton Vaud.
The plane was put in boxes in Duebendorf, near Zurich, and trucked to Payerne, where it is being reassembled for trials this Spring.
© 2009 Stéphane Gros/ Solar Impulse
Reassembly will be finished by March, after which flight tests are scheduled, involving taking the plane to a height of 8,500m. They will be capped by a 36-hour endurance flight.
Payerne was chosen because there is much less air traffic than at Kloten, Zurich’s airport, and the flat topography is perfect for flight tests, says André Borschberg, one of the two co-presidents of the Solar Impulse project.
© 2009 Stéphane Gros/ Solar Impulse
A second airplane is being built in Duebendorf with modifications based on the Payerne experiences. The round-the-world flight in 2012-3 will start from Duebendorf.
Links to other sites:24heures, La Liberté, Solar Impulse site
This work by genevalunch.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
News story, GenevaLunch, 10 February 2010.
Filed under: Business
Tags: Andre Borschberg, Duebendorf, Kloten, Payerne Vaud, solar energy, Solar Impulse