LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Solar Impulse made it home safely from Paris, warmed not only by the sun but by its success in the French capital, with more than 350,000 visitors during the Le Bourget airshow. The plane made three journeys for a total of about 1,500km during its maiden European flights sojourn.
“The feedback from our European flight campaign is encouraging,” says Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse founder and president. “The welcome we received from political and industrial circles in Brussels and Paris shows that Solar Impulse is pioneering a new way of thinking in terms of renewable energy and energy saving.”
The plane on its three trips was sailing through the air at about 50kph on sunny days: it’s easy for observers on the ground to forget how sensitive the giant solar bird really is and that these maiden flights are test flights. Solar Impulse could have landed earlier than 19:45 in Payerne, but thermal bubbles created over the autoroutes, rail lines and towns can de-stabilize it.
The information and experience gathered during the flights will now be put to work in planning the next stage of the solar airplane adventure, possibly a flight to Morocco, pilot Andre Borschberg said during his Sunday flight.
Solar Impulse at Le Bourget airport in Paris, during the solar airplane's first European trip
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Solar Impulse, flying with only solar power, is en route to Switzerland from Paris. The plane left Le Bourget airport in France at 07:11 Sunday 3 July and is expected to arrive in Payerne at 19:00 this evening.
You can follow the flight live on www.solarimpulse.com and via the Smartphone app “Solar Impulse Inventing the Future”, available free on Appstore and Androïd Market.
On Twitter: @andreborschberg and @solarimpulse and on Facebook.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Solar Impulse’s return flight to Switzerland from Paris will not take place Friday as planned, the solar airplane’s team said lat Thursday 30 June. “Air traffic restrictions and weather conditions in the Jura region and in Paris would prevent Solar Impulse from returning back its take-off location in case of a technical problem,” the group said in a statement.
Heading home: Solar Impulse could be back in its hangar in Payerne by Friday night, after its big European flights trip, weather permitting
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Solar Impulse appears to have a window of opportunity Friday 1 July to fly home from the Le Bourget airshow in Paris, where it has been a centre of attention after making its first international flights using only solar power. The weather promises to be fine and sunny for the Paris-Payerne run but the flight director could decide at the last minute to make a change to the departure date or the flight plan.
The plane will take off in the morning from Paris-le Bourget and climb to a cruising altitude of 3,500 meters. The plane’s team has released the following details:
“The plane will fly east towards Troyes, will continue to Pontarlier and land at Payerne airfield at the end of the day.
Photo taken by Andre Borschberg from Solar Impulse during Brussels-Paris flight
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Solar Impulse, the Swiss solar-powered airplane, left Brussels early Tuesday 14 June in a second attempt to fly to Paris, with weather conditions favourable. The plane left Brussels at 05:10 this morning and landed at 21:15 at Paris-Le Bourget airport, a 16:05 hour flight for pilot André Borschberg.
The plane had been in Brussels since its first European flight 14 May, across national borders and through normally crowded air corridors. The flight to Paris will allow it to participate in the world’s largest air show. Solar Impulse attempted the flight last Friday but was forced to turn back due mianly to weather conditions.
Flight conditions Tuesday were qualified by Borschberg as “excellent”.
Background, Solar Impulse, GenevaLunch
Four countries, no fuel: 12 hours, 59 minutes of flying time
Andre Borschberg, Bertrand Piccard, with Solar Impulse
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – André Borschberg stepped out of the small Solar Impulse cockpit in Brussels, Belgium, after 12 hours, 48 minutes of flying time, the solar-energy-only plane’s first international flight, and said “It’s unbelievably exciting to land here in Brussels, at the heart of Europe, after flying across France and Luxembourg. And to fly without fuel, noise or pollution, making practically no negative impact, is a great source of satisfaction.”
The pilot had to scramble to get up into the air, due to air traffic complications, but he said during the flight that “It’s a spectacular flight. The takeoff was a little challenging because we had to rush due to air traffic activity consequently I needed a little bit of time to get everything in order before I could become serene. It was little bit northeast wind during takeoff, however, this was not a major problem.”
The plane and its team will be in Brussels and Paris to promote the use of renewable energies, part of a European series of events 23-29 May.
Checking the wind in Payerne: sophisticated systems don't rule out doublechecking with older ones
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Solar Impulse is making its maiden solar-power only international flight, to Brussels, after taking off from the Payerne air base in canton Vaud at 08:40 Friday morning 13 May.
It is scheduled to arrive in Brussels this evening around 21:00. The flight can be followed live, online. Smart phone apps are also carrying it live: “Solar Impulse inventing the future”.
An earlier scheduled flight to Brussels had to be delayed due to adverse weather conditions.
Ed. note: as we post this the live broadcast has been temporarily interrupted but tweets on Twitter and live blogging show us that it was nearing La-Chaux-de-Fond and flying between 20 and 35 kph. Background story, GenevaLunch
Solar Impulse's founders, Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard: cockpit, March 2011
Solar Impulse, Payerne hangar
Solar impulse on its maiden flight
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Solar Impulse will fly to Brussels International Airport from Payerne, canton Vaud, Monday 2 May, weather permitting. The flight will be the first international one for the solar-powered plane.
The European Commission, which has backed the project from the start, is the patron for this flight. The airplane will be displayed in the European capital from 23 to 29 May as part of a week of events to promote energy efficiency and renewable resources in particular.
It will then “attempt to fly on to Paris-Le Bourget, where it is eagerly awaited as the ‘Special Guest’ of the 49th International Paris Air Show from 20 to 26 June 2011,” Solar Impulse notes in a statement issued 28 April.
Solar Impulse: the official portrait 2011 (photo, ©2011 Solar Impulse)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Solar Impulse, the Swiss solar plane that aims to be the first to fly night and day without fuel or polluting emissions, has been given a major boost from one of the world’s major elevator/lift and escalator companies, Schindler.
The Lucerne-based manufacturer this week becomes the fourth main partner for the project.
The company, which is the world’s largest supplier of escalators and the second-largest of elevators, is making an engineering and research contribution but it is also supporting the project financially with what Alfred Schindler, charman and chief executive quantified as a “low double digit figure” in millions of francs.
The announcement was made in Payerne, canton Vaud, Monday, where the Solar Impulse team projected its recently completed film, Les Ailes du Soleil, seven years in the making.
World records set, now human and technological limits to be pushed
Solar Impulse’s longer term goal is to attempt a round the world flight in 2014.
The team set three new world records for solar-powered planes 25 July 2010 when pilot and chief executive André Borschberg flew the plane for 24 hours straight:
absolute height: 9235 m
height gain: 8744 m
duration: 26 hours, 10 minutes, 19 seconds.
Swiss air traffic authorities restricted the plane to Swiss air space and air corridors that were free of other traffic initially, but in 2011 the team aims to make its first European solar flights. A major technological but also human challenge will come in 2012, with multi-day mission flights.
André Borschberg, when flying the plane night and day for the first time in 2010 was obliged to stay awake for the 26 hours.
Schindler invests in “clean and sustainable mobility”
Alfred Schindler, possibly more at home on an escalator than on a stepladder, joins Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard at the Solar Impulse cockpit
Schindler’s engineering and technical support are not surprising, insists Alfred Schindler, who says he has been a fan of Solar Impulse from the start.
His company moves more than one billion people a day, he points out, with most of them between Mumbai and Tokyo, so innovation is crucial for the company to remain a top supplier in its industry. He is particularly proud of his company’s latest innovation, the world’s first solar-powered elevator.
Schindler has invested heavily in research and development, out of which have come what the firm labels three industry-benchmarks in innovation: its destination controller, machine roomless elevators, and steel-ropeless traction.
The two groups point out in a statement that “with Schindler coming on board at the outset of the construction of the second prototype HB-SIB, the project is on excellent path to meet its challenge of flying round the world in 2014 with no fuel.”
Borschberg says he sees Schindler’s participation “as an excellent opportunity for know-how exchange and further development. With the success of the first prototype, we acquired much experience. Our technology choices were clearly validated. However to accomplish the round the world, we need to go even further in terms of technology and reliability and we look forward to benefiting from Schindler’s expertise. “
Solar Impulse, using only solar power, lands in Geneva 21 September 2010
Update 13:15 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Solar Impulse is flying again! Bertrand Piccard’s plane took off Tuesday 21 September at 08:00 from Payerne, canton Vaud and landed safely in Geneva at 12:25. If the weather holds and the control tower at Cointrin Airport gives the go-ahead, the plane is expected to leave Geneva at 15:30 and should arrive back in Payerne about 18:30. Very approximate times for plane-watchers: 16:30 over Nyon, 17:30 near Lausanne.
At 09:30 Tuesday morning the solar-propelled plane, piloted by André Borschberg, was flying over Montreux where it circled the Chillon Castle a few times.
The plane is flying at low altitude, thus easily visible to plane-watchers, and its flight path can be followed live.
The clear skies and near-perfect weather are providing a safe window for the plane, which uses only solar power.
Solar Impulse is running a photo competition, with first prize a visit to the project centre in Payerne. Photos and videos can be uploaded directly to the site, while the plane is flying.
Wednesday’s flight to Zurich
Solar Impulse will continue its Swiss day flying trials with a return flight from Payerne to Zurich Wednesday September 22nd 2010.
Depending on weather and air traffic conditions the flight schedule is:
08:00 Takeoff from Payerne, direction Zurich International Airport
13:30 Landing, Zurich International Airport
14:30 Take off from Zurich, direction Payerne
19:00 Expected landing in Payerne
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Cool bise winds are now expected to blow into Switzerland early Saturday, and Solar Impulse, the solar-powered airplane, has decided to postpone its test flight to Geneva and Zurich until later this month.
“The weather forecast for Saturday 11 September, the date foreseen for the Solar Impulse Swiss Flights is showing a North Eastern wind (“la bise”). The latest bulletin of this morning is indicating much stronger winds that originally predicted, notably on the flight route through the German speaking part of Switzerland, with gusts reaching 20-30 km/h in vicinity of Zurich International Airport.
At this stage of the Solar Impulse project, this is a risk the Mission Team does not want to take given that this is an experimental aircraft. Hence it is with great regret that the Swiss Solar Flights foreseen for tomorrow have been postponed. The Swiss Solar Flights will be carried over as soon as there is favorable weather conditions and we will certainly keep you updated of our plans.”
Fine weather offers window of opportunity for test flight
Solar Impulse will start its flight to Geneva around 03:00, using only solar power
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Solar Impulse’s test flight to Geneva and Zurich, its first foray into airspace with regular traffic and landing at commercial airports, has been moved to this weekend, with a planned 03:00 departure Saturday 11 September from Payerne. Flight plan map
The golden weather forecast for this weekend provides a safe window for the solar plane, which uses only solar power. It made its maiden flight in early July in a protected air corridor. Early this week it announced that the test flight would likely take place at the end of September.
The flights will be at low altitude, so easily visible to plane-watchers, and the flight path can be followed live. Solar Impulse is running a photo competition, with first prize a visit to the project centre in Payerne. Photos and videos can be uploaded directly to the site, while the plane is flying.
The programme for Saturday:
Solar Impulse on its maiden flight in July 2010
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Solar Impulse captured the public imagination 7 July with the success of its first night-time flight using only solar energy gathered during the day and stored. Now the plane is reaching out to a larger public as it prepares for a low-altitude flight to Geneva and from there to Zurich via Fribourg and Bern at the end of September. The flights are scheduled for sometime around 28 September, the centenary of a flight by Ernest Failloubaz, the first holder of a pilot’s licence in Switzerland, who flew from Avenches to Payerne in a Bleriot airplane.
The schedule and route for Solar Impulse will be announced closer to the date, depending on weather conditions.
Andre Borschberg, Solar Impulse pilot, at the end of 26 hours of non-stop flying in a plane without fuel: Solar Impulse completes its first flight
Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg: the dream made real, after Solar Impulse's first night flight
Update 10:15 Payerne, canton Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Solar Impulse, the first airplane powered by solar energy, landed at 09:00 at Payerne airbase, north of Lausanne, after a flight of more than 26 hours. Piloted by Solar Impulse CEO André Borschberg in an attempt to show it is possible to use the energy of the sun to power an aircraft, Solar Impulse took off 7 July just before 7:00.
Throughout the day Wednesday 7 July, the plane used its 64 metre wingspan to glide up to an altitude of 8,500 metres, which it reached in the late afternoon, above the Jura mountains.
All the while, the almost 12,000 solar panels on the wings were charging the batteries. At nightfall, the solar power generators were switched off, and Borschberg took the plane into a long, slow descent to 1,500m altitude, catching the occasional updraft where possible with the help of the team’s meteorolgist, Bruno Neininger.
T
he real test came as the plane’s solar energy supplies were depleted, and the new day’s sun rays began to power the solar cells again. At 4:30 8 July, Solar Impulse had another 6 hours energy left stored in its batteries. Sunrise was at 5:45. An exhilarated Borschberg kept repeating, “It’s only the beginning.”
The night flight was delayed almost a week due to a faulty electronic device.
A successful night flight is a prerequisite for a five-stage trip around the world using the same technique of ascent and solar cell charging during the day, slow descent during the night, and then replenishment of the batteries scheduled for 2013.
Official times and figures released by Solar Impulse Thursday morning:
Take-off time: 07/07/2010 – 06h51
Landing time: 08/07/2010 – 09:00
Flight duration: 26 hours 09 min
Maximum speed: 68 knots (ground speed)
Average speed: 23 knots
Maximum altitude: 8564 m (above sea-level)
Background: GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: Le Temps, NZZ (Ger), Solar Impulse site, Solar Impulse blog
Solar Impulse parked at night (photo ©2010 Solar Impulse)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - SolarImpulse took off on its maiden night flight early Wednesday 7 July north of Lausanne and, if all goes as expected, the plane will continue flying until early Thursday. Success on this first night flight would make it the longest and highest flight ever by a solar plane.
During the day the plane will be visible from several points in the region, with current location visible on the cockpit page of the plane’s web site. Fans can follow the flight on the Solar Impulse Facebook page.
Plane to descend to 1,500 metres tonight
The plane, with a wingspan as wide as that of an Airbus but which weighs only as much as a car, will slowly climb to 8,500 metres during the day, gradually charging its solar batteries in preparation for the night flight. About two hours before sunset the sun’s rays stop being strong enough to supply the solar cells with energy. Solar Impulse will start a slow descent at that point, reaching an altitude of around 1,500 metres by 23:00.
The plane should then carry on flying, using the energy stored in its batteries, until the next sunrise. The big question is whether the pilot can make efficient use of the battery energy to fly throughout the night.
Late afternoon cloud buildup could pose a threat
The suspense will build late in the afternoon, however, with the region’s tendency to have late afternoon storms during hot weather posing a potential threat. If storm clouds build up, the plane may have to return to its home at the Payerne airbase before night.
“The intention of this mission is to demonstrate the potential of renewable energy and clean technologies and to promote them amongst the public,” says Bertrand Piccard, initiator and president of the Solar Impulse project.
Pilot Andre Borschberg with solar cell (photo ©2010 Solar Impulse)
André Borscherg, CEO and co-founder of the Solar Impulse project, is at the controls and Claude Nichollier, a retired astronaut, is head of the Solar Impulse test flight programme.
The first night flight was originally scheduled for 1 July but was called off at the last minute when a key communications transmitter failed. It, too, was a prototype, so a replacement had to be made quickly to allow Solar Impulse to take advantage of good weather conditions and the long days at this time of year.
Background, GenevaLunch
Link to Solar Impulse web site, live coverage of the flight/view from the cockpit
About the Solar Impulse project
From Solar Impulse:
A 70-strong team, together with 80 partners, took seven years of hard work, calculations, simulations and tests to build this completely new carbon fibre plane, with its wingspan equivalent to that of an Airbus A340 (63.4 m) and weighing about the same as a middle-sized car (1600 kg). No aircraft so large and yet so light has ever been built before. More than 12,000 solar panels are built into its wing, supplying renewable energy during the day to the electric engines (each with a maximum 10 hp of power), while at the same time charging the lithium-polymer batteries (400 kg) used for flying at night. The Solar Impulse project, initiated in 1999 by Bertrand Piccard following his circumnavigation of the world in a balloon, is supported, among others, by its main partners, Solvay, Omega and the Deutsche Bank, by its official partner, Bayer Material Science, by Lausanne’s EPFL, its official technical advisor, by Altran, its engineering partner, and by Dassault-Aviation, ! its aviation advisor.
Solar Impulse in an earlier flight
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The first night solar flight using energy stored during daytime flying hours was to take place today, but Solar Impulse took the decision early Thursday 1 July to postpone it due to telemetry transmitter problems. A new date has not yet been set.
This is a system that enables the ground team to follow in real time the flight mission and to monitor thousands of crucial parameters. With a prototype such as Solar Impulse currently in an experimental phase, this system is an essential component without which the mission would not be possible.
The piece of equipment was produced specifically for the prototype and could not be quickly replaced.
to replace it and subsequently had to postpone this first attempt.
“The pilot and the aircraft’s security comes first,” says ! Claude Nicollier, who is head of flight testing for Solar Impulse. “Without this communication system, the mission becomes too risky.”
Solar impulse lifts off the ground for its first flight in Payerne, Switzerland 7 April 2010
Update 13:05 Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The weather was beautiful, the mood upbeat – and the plane flew, just as everyone was hoping it would. Solar Impulse, the first plane designed to fly night and day without fossil fuels, slowly climbed 1,200 metres into the air Wednesday 7 April at 10:27 and flew for the next 87 minutes before pilot Markus Scherdel landed it again in Payerne.
Solar Impulse, maiden flight 7 April 2010 in Payerne, Switzerland
“This first flight was for me a very intense moment!” Scherdel told the crowd that had gathered, as he got down from the aircraft.
Solar Impulse
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Solar Impulse, the wide-winged Swiss plane that is the world’s first designed to fly night and day without fuel or polluting emissions, will take to the air for the first time tomorrow, Wednesday 7 April. The aircraft has a wingspan comparable to that of an Airbus A340 (63.4 m) and a weight similar to that of an average car (1,600 kg): no aircraft so large and so light has ever been built before, according to its team. The plane will take off from Payerne in canton Vaud, near the Swiss air force military base.
Pilot Markus Scherdel is expected to take off early in the morning and fly for an hour and a half, if all goes well. He should reach an altitude of 1,000 metres. “The objective of tomorrow’s mission is to verify that the plane’s flight behaviour is in line with the calculations and simulations done using the flight simulator. With such a large and light plane never having flown before, the aircraft’s flight behaviour remains unexplored,” the Solar Impulse team says in a press release.
Some 12,000 solar cells are built into its wing, supplying the 4 electric motors with a maximum output of 10 hp with renewable energy and charging the 400 kg lithium-polymer batteries during the day to allow the solar-powered aircraft to fly at night.
The project is the child of Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg and has been developed with a team of 70 people, working with 80 partners.
Background, GenevaLunch
Solar Impulse during its "flea hop" tests in December 2009 - solar panels are at the back
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss federal government has approved a new flying ordinance that will allow pioneering solar plane Solar Impulse to take to the skies at night around Payerne, in canton Vaud. Flights are normally banned between 06:00 and 22:00 in Switzerland, but the new ordinance, which applies only to Solar Impulse, will allow the plane to make up to 20 flights a year for the duration of the test period, starting 1 April 2010 and ending 31 December 2013.
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.
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 unveiled in Duebendorf, Zurich June 2009
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Solar Impulse is moving out of the hangar near Zurich where it has been undergoing months of fine-tuning. The solar airplane’s engineering team turned over the plane officially to the test team Monday 19 October and ground testing is now beginning, under the direction of Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier.
The airplane, a project directed by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, aims to fly around the world fueled only by energy from the sun.
Solar Impulse computer model in flight (image: EPFL)
Duebendorf, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “Yesterday, it was a dream. Today, it is an airplane – tomorrow it will be an ambassador of renewable energies”, Bertrand Piccard told journalists gathered Friday 26 June for the unveiling of his futuristic fuel-free airplane Solar Impulse.
Piccard is the head of a project to build and fly a plane that uses only the sun’s energy to fly non-stop around the world.
Professor Jacques Piccard, explorer and inventor, died at his home on the banks of Lake Geneva 1 November, aged 86.
