Solar impulse

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DarrenM
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Solar impulse

Post by DarrenM »

Anyone been following Solar Impulse? It's a Swiss attempt at the first solar powered circumnavigation of the globe in a piloted, fixed-wing aircraft.

The trip is being done in 12 stages and they're about to do the 7th leg, from Nanjing to Hawaii. 5 days non-stop to cover the 8172km.

http://www.solarimpulse.com/rtw



As you can see from the take-off's, it's not the fastest plane out there :)

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J.D.
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Re: Solar impulse

Post by J.D. »

Sorry Darren. Didn't realise you were already onto this before I started another thread. Humblest apologies.
сначала мы убиваем американского лося и белку.

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Re: Solar impulse

Post by J.D. »

Live pictures:

сначала мы убиваем американского лося и белку.

"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell.

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Re: Solar impulse

Post by wobblysauce »

Avg, it has been around 25kts when I have been watching on the site, it is a nice solar/glider.
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Re: Solar impulse

Post by smithcorp »

Fantastic to see its recharging after the night.
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DarrenM
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Re: Solar impulse

Post by DarrenM »

wobblysauce wrote:Avg, it has been around 25kts when I have been watching on the site, it is a nice solar/glider.
Yeah. A fucking big one :)

Bigger wingspan than a 747 but only 2.3 tonnes

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Re: Solar impulse

Post by wobblysauce »

That it is..
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Re: Solar impulse

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сначала мы убиваем американского лося и белку.

"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell.

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Re: Solar impulse

Post by smithcorp »

Close to Hawaii now - neat widget here with data and a live stream from the cockpit. This is quite a big deal - 4 days in the cockpit, all on solar!

http://www.solarimpulse.com/widget-pilot_health
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Re: Solar impulse

Post by J.D. »

Woot! Only about 12 hours to go at this rate.

So impressive.
сначала мы убиваем американского лося и белку.

"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell.

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Re: Solar impulse

Post by wobblysauce »

hum.. a 17% difference on 1 engine to another, 95%,100%,83%,91%charged.
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Re: Solar impulse

Post by J.D. »

Currently circling off Honolulu for a landing at 16:00 UTC, about 02:00 our time.
сначала мы убиваем американского лося и белку.

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Re: Solar impulse

Post by J.D. »

Don't know how I missed this. Last time I looked they were still testing in Hawaii. I think that was at least a week ago.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-24/' ... ia/7354124

Anyhow, that's another big one off the list.
сначала мы убиваем американского лося и белку.

"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell.

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Re: Solar impulse

Post by plastik8 »

J.D. wrote:Don't know how I missed this. Last time I looked they were still testing in Hawaii. I think that was at least a week ago.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-24/' ... ia/7354124

Anyhow, that's another big one off the list.
Cheers for the heads up J.D. :yes:

I must be tired and missed something in the article... Could not see when the flight began, when it landed, duration, distance, dates, times, anything? Was it a single leg? How many KM? Average speed? It mentioned sleeping for 20 minute blocks... Would be nice to know how long the entire journey was for.

Checking their website - 62 hours for this leg, 117 hours for leg 8 Nagoya to Hawaii. The final 4 legs look pretty tough still. Atlantic Crossing looks pretty significant!

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Image[url=steam://friends/add/76561197971333750]Image[/url]
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Re: Solar impulse

Post by wobblysauce »

And landed...

We made it around the world. 40'000km without fuel, a first for energy.

Historic solar flight marks first round-the-world journey
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a0adc07a ... ld-journey
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Re: Solar impulse

Post by Jamo »

Of course it used fuel, the rays of Sol a by-product of Nuclear Fusion.

No mention of the other record, comfortably slowest circumnavigation of the Globe by a non Sea going Vessel.
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Re: Solar impulse

Post by wobblysauce »

The 2-3 crossings did look great.
Some play it safe on the merry-go-round, others go for the thrills of the roller-coaster.

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Re: Solar impulse

Post by smithcorp »

The power of the sun is amazing. Solar impulse used solar panels, but when i was gliding, my 600kg+ plane was kept aloft by the updrafts generated from the ground, warmed by a star 150 million km away. Truly astounding.
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Re: Solar impulse

Post by wobblysauce »

And with your Kayak Smiths.. when out in the big blue.. you are powered by the fear of sharks..
Some play it safe on the merry-go-round, others go for the thrills of the roller-coaster.

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I have a joke for you. I have a prediction that you are going to walk into a bar, my prediction was wrong and your wallet is gone.
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