Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
The Last Flight of the Round-the-World Solar Flight — Parallax Forums

The Last Flight of the Round-the-World Solar Flight

ercoerco Posts: 20,256
edited 2016-07-25 23:19 in General Discussion
I can't tell if this is live (about to land) or recorded, just found it. The "Solar Impulse" airplane is wrapping up a circumnavigation. Whole mission control thing going on, landing in Abu Dhabi.

https://www.solarimpulse.com/leg-17-from-Cairo-to-Abu_Dhabi

Live (?) Youtube feed:

Comments

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    It does look live, they are scheduled to land at 5:00 pm California time. Pilot Bertrand Piccard is not to be confused with Capt. Jean-Luc Piccard of Star Trek, nor Bertrand Zobrist, the antagonist in Dan Brown's book and upcoming movie "Inferno".
  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    Fake, nothing solar powered can fly at night.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    xanadu wrote: »
    Fake, nothing solar powered can fly at night.

    They must have amazing battery capacity to burn since they are lighting up the wings' undersides like a billboard.

  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    Kinda makes me wonder if they're saving enough juice for a go-around.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    I guess Bertrand is Swiss. There was some earlier commentary that he was going to land exactly at a specified time, arriving on time with the precision of a Swiss train. I think they were ahead of schedule and killed some time.
  • MikeDYurMikeDYur Posts: 2,176
    xanadu wrote: »
    Fake, nothing solar powered can fly at night.


    There probably using the illumination for the photo opportunity, it seems a lot of the press on this is dealing with nght shots, the pilot has battery power to spare for a grand entrence.
  • MikeDYurMikeDYur Posts: 2,176
    edited 2016-07-30 13:01
    On the subject of electric powered flight.
    NASA’s Scalable Convergent Electric Propulsion Technology and Operations Research (SCEPTOR) project has reached a critical milestone, where the electric propulsion integration and conversion of the Tecnam P2006T aircraft into the X-57 will commence. The aircraft will be converted into the first manned X-plane to feature a distributed electric propulsion system.

    X-57 is the result of research and testing done through the Convergent Aeronautics Solution’s (CAS) sub-project SCEPTOR, which falls under the Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program. NASA’s goal of meeting and overcoming the challenges of today’s aviation starts with potentially revolutionary ideas, and CAS was instrumental in supporting the idea of zero-carbon-emitting distributed electric propulsion.

    SCEPTOR will become the first CAS sub-project to graduate to the Flight Demonstrations and Capabilities project under the Integrated Aviation Systems Program, and X-57 will be the first of a series of increasingly larger electric aircraft in support of the New Aviation Horizons initiative.
    afrc2016-0212-109.jpg
    800 x 533 - 296K
Sign In or Register to comment.