2 plane Solar Impulse made its first two-hour flight – NEWSru.com

Reuters

solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse 2 (“Solar Impulse – 2″) made its first flight. He took off from Payerne airfield Swiss town, and two hours later landed at the same airport, writes РБК.

Solar Impulse 2 – the second plane project of the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Lausanne. The first model was a single monoplane that could stay aloft for up to 36 hours. Two years ago, he set a number of records, among which was the трансконтинентальный flight .

Pilot Sherdel Marcus said that the first flight of the second generation solar-powered aircraft was successful. Sherdel noticed a slight vibration during maneuvers at an altitude of 1800 meters, but in general there was no serious problems. “Everything went according to initial estimates,” – said after the trial designers.

Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, who participated in the creation of aircraft piloted previous model during the record flight, stressed that the machine is completely unique. Plane does not need kerosene and can use solar energy during the day and at night. At the same time he has a wingspan larger than the Boeing 747 (72 meters compared to 68.5 meters) and weighs just 2.3 tonnes, which is slightly more than the average car.

on aircraft surfaces installed 17,000 solar panels, which operate the four electric motors. In the theory of plane when fully charged, can reach speeds of 140 km / h Video of test flight posted on YouTube.

Piccard and co-pilot Andre Borschberg said they plan to commit to the Solar Impulse 2 world tour, which will last about five days. It is expected that during this flight, scheduled for 2015, the new aircraft will see the inhabitants of Southern Europe, India, China, Southeast Asia and the United States.