Solar/Electric plane

Smart planning. Spring has the least weather volatility effecting that particular stretch of the Pacific.
 
"...manned by only one pilot. Yikes.." Hehe... Have sailed for miles sleeping with "eyes open" via autopilot, w/alarm sounds if "things" deviate from course plotted. (Depth varies outside expected parameters, radar warns of "blips" not expected, fire alarm(s), GPS, etc.) Used to study through university chewing "wake up" pills, but expect pilot here to sleep soundly. (Radio message from pilot: "Dang! Forgot Mister Teddy!")
 
Hmmm... Aircraft weight 2300 Kg. Gonna guess +- on land or in the air. Lessee... Volume of air bags to support plane on trips over waters if "hits" waters surface. Hmmm... Seen on WahWahWah:
...one cubic meter container filled with air will lift a 1000 kg object against gravity. However, to be exact, in the 1000 kg you must include the mass of the container in kg and (for purists) about 1.5 kg which is the mass of the air in the container. So the "payload" will be less than 1000 kg.
Click to expand...
Reference https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/question-on-how-to-calculate-bouancy-force.330119/

So gonna guess (again) he'll be carrying a bottle of compressed air w/ connected bags of a few cu.meters in size to inflate "on short notice". (Wishing the guy "Bon Voyage" perhaps not the best for these trips.)
 
I used to be a commercial pilot of small aircraft....I honestly don't think electric aircraft will take off in a big way, sure for light general aviation type aircraft there is a niche market, but this solar plane has the wingspan of a boeing 747 and can only carry 1 passenger.
A boeing 747 with gas engines can carry 300+. The energy density of fuel is far greater than that of current batteries, and I doubt we'll make any staggering breakthroughs allowing electric commercial aircraft.
 
Ahhh... but "reconfigure"... "things"... for commercial aviation...a lot? Been following developments from Worldwide Aeros Corp. ("Aeros")? Described here as a "game-changing advancement in the field of aviation":
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/201...airship-technology-breakthrough#axzz3bQrdiUjx

(Also, search ES Bible for word "Zeppelin".)
:)

Newz from 40 minutes ago: "Abu Dhabi: The Solar Impulse 2 team, currently in the Chinese city of Nanjing, is waiting for a clear weather window to attempt the Pacific Ocean crossing on its way to Hawaii."
http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/environment/bad-weather-hampers-solar-impulse-2-progress-1.1523692
 
http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/06/03/it-make-or-break-moment-solar-powered-plane-world

In part:
A ground crew then had to hold the lightweight plane down for more than 24 hours while other workers inflated a mobile hangar designed to protect the 17,000 solar panels that cover the aircraft’s 236-foot wingspan from gusty winds.

“The plane has a huge surface area and is very light, with a takeoff speed of just 45 kilometers an hour, so with gusts of wind like today, you really need to hold on to it,” Bertrand Piccard, the project’s cofounder, said at a press conference.

Piccard said the right wing sustained minor damage while the hangar was being prepared.

Hmmm... Amusing maybe. City between Phoenix and New York... Nashville? TBA

Leg 10 Phoenix to city to be determined
Leg 11 City to be determined to New York
 
slide_408780_5128742_compressed.jpg
 
Read somewhere that the plane can sustain only ~10 hours of propulsion before the batteries empty, otherwise the pilot would abandon via parachute :shock: . The key is finding a big open window of blue skies from Japan to Hawaii, thereby keeping a healthy battery.

Still have some time to sing karaoke & eat sushi & drink sake, as the summer solstice passes. But, you never know when the big Pacific will start churning as Autumn approaches.
 
Hehe... Yah. Somebuddy didn't check the weather forecasts:
One of the weather obstacles plaguing the record-setting flight of Solar Impulse 2 is a meteorological phenomenon common over eastern Asia and the western Pacific Ocean this time of year.

The "baiu" (BUY-Yu) or "mei-yu" (MAY-Yu) front pulls in humid, tropical air from Asia and brings wet weather to much of Japan in June and July, said AccuWeather meteorologist Jim Andrews.
Click to expand...
 
"No Way Back! This is a one way ticket to Hawaii," tweeted @solarimpulse. Pilot "André Borschberg has passed the point of no return and must now see this 5 days 5 nights flight through to the end".

Around 12 hours after take-off, the aircraft was more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) into its 7,900-kilometre flight, according to the Solarimpulse.com website, which showed the flight expected to describe an arc between Japan and Hawaii.
 
Zee News, Thursday, July 2, 2015: Solar Impulse 2 entering critical phase in trans-Pacific flight
The solar-powered plane had traveled 67 percent of the way to the tropical US state by 2100 GMT Wednesday, having flown 5,199 kilometers (3,230 miles) with 2,536 km more to go, according to the project.

By that time the plane and its veteran Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg had logged nearly 75 hours of continuous flight, having already bettered the previous record of 44 hours they had set between China and Japan.
Click to expand...
What a magnificent achievement already!
8.jpg
 
Battery damage grounds Solar Impulse 2 after record-breaking flight
The solar-powered aircraft sustained major damage to its batteries during the latest leg of its round-the-world voyage, according to a press release, and it will be two to three weeks before the aircraft flies again.

Crews monitoring the aircraft during its flight from Nagoya to Hawaii noticed the overheating batteries during the plane's first ascent of the five-day journey. Unfortunately, the team was unable to reduce temperatures due to the cyclic nature of Solar Impulse's flights. Every day, the aircraft ascends to 28,000 feet and gathers energy before gliding back down towards Earth at night. The team believes that the overheating was due to excess insulation in the battery compartment.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, engineers.
 
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