To prepare Solar Impulse and its pilots for the upcoming airshow season, André Borschberg and other members of the flight team completed a series of tests to enable precise flying, particularly around the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. “We are preparing for these trips beforehand because they are very complex operations, from both a logistical point of view and purely in terms of flying”, Borschberg explained following his three-hour flight on April 18. Solar Impulse will be the “special guest” at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget from June 20 through 26. This last week’s tests were designed, according to acting flight test director Ralph Paul, with “two objectives…: to adopt the Bourget configuration and increase the flight envelope by doing stickraps.” As the project’s blog explains, “The solar airplane made three simulations closely modeled on the choreography to be adopted for the presentation flights in Paris…. Initially, the pilot climbed to an altitude of 1000 feet (a …
Solar Impulse Night Flight Postponed
The Solar Impulse project sent out the following press release this morning: “Dear Solar Impulse Friends, “This morning at 06h45, the Solar Impulse Mission Team had to take the difficult decision to postpone the first night flight attempt. “The problem comes from the telemetry transmitter that has broken down. This system 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 was not possible. “Due to this inoperative piece of equipment produced specifically for this prototype, we were unfortunately unable to replace it and subsequently had to postpone this first attempt. “The entire team is of course intensively working to find a solution, however at this particular time we are unable to announce another date for the next trial.” Project leaders commented, with Chief Test Pilot Claude Nicollier reminding …