Solar Impulse 2 Gets a Jet Escort

Dean Sigler Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Following a fairly non-eventful crossing of the Atlantic, Bertrand Piccard was greeted by a welcoming formation of Casa C-101 Aviojets, Spain’s Patrulla Águila flight demonstration team. After three days and nights in the air, Piccard landed in the Spanish sunrise, also finalizing efforts to establish the International Committee of Clean Technology (ICCT), whose goal is to continue Solar Impulse’s legacy, “promoting concrete energy efficient solutions in order to solve many of the challenges facing society today.” While “Until recently, protecting the environment was expensive and threatened our society’s comfort, mobility and growth. Today, thanks to modern clean technologies, the energy consumption of the world, and therefore the C02 emissions, could be divided by two, while creating jobs and enhancing profits. The International Committee of Clean Technologies will work in this direction,” Bertrand Piccard and Andre’ Borschberg launched the #futureisclean initiative  a few months ago.  A non-governmental organization composed of 400 global organizations.  It has been endorsed by patrons such as H.S.H. …

Getting Sideways in SI2

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Any pilot who’s had to land an airplane at its crosswind limit knows that each airplane has a point where its controls cannot overcome the sideways force, and one cannot perform the final level, straight-down-the-runway touchdown.  Usually, pilots do a go-around or find a more wind-oriented runway.  Solar Impulse’s explanation under the video tells why this is almost impossible under deteriorating conditions with a craft as huge and slow as SI2. Take note of the control inputs test pilot Marcus Scherdel makes in the final moments of the August 30, 2014 flight. The Solar Impulse team released this video in the last week, perhaps to explain why the crew is waiting for a positive “weather window” before embarking on a planned five-day epic voyage from Nanjing, China to Hawaii. “Solar Impulse was still in flight test phase when Markus Scherdel, the experienced test pilot, was put to a challenge by strong crosswinds during landing. Si2 returned from a flight to Payerne Airfield …

Solar Impulse – More than Just Record Flights

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Solar Impulse 2, HB-SIB, is parked on the tarmac at Ahmedabad (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, AMD/VAAH), fresh from its record-making flight from Oman.  Crew members pore over its mechanical and electrical components in preparation for its next flight to Varanasi, also in the Republic of India.  In the meantime pilots Andre’ Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard share the message of their Future Is Clean organization and prepare themselves physically and spiritually for the voyage ahead. Apropos of their stopovers in India, Borschberg and Piccard have practiced Yoga as part of the physical discipline necessary for the grueling long-distance flights to come, and Borschberg is seen in one photo using a modern version of a traditional healing practice called Shirodhara, which involves pouring a steady stream of water or other liquids appropriate for the therapy.  The term comes from the Sanskrit words shiro (head) and dhara (flow), according to Wikipedia. This cleansing of the body and spirit coincides with the greater mission of the flight, to …

Solar Impulse Wrapping Up Flight Tests before Heading to Abu Dhabi

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Solar Impulse 2, HB-SIB, flying now for several months, is being readied for a trip to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and host city for Solar Impulse’s around-the-world flight.  From there, early in 2015, it will embark on its around-the-world flight, alternately flown by Bertrand Piccard and Andre’ Borschberg. The program continues the drive and immense logistical planning evidenced by Solar Impulse 1’s across-America flight last year.  “What better way to demonstrate the importance of the pioneering, innovatory spirit than by achieving ‘impossible’ things with renewable energy and highlighting new solutions for environmental problems?” This attitude will be necessary to overcome the challenges of five-day, cross-ocean flights each pilot will face, and to meet the meteorological conditions following the equator much of the way. The bigger, heavier SI2 will cross deserts, the Great Wall of China, and repeat its journey across America on its five-month circumnavigation of the globe.  Beginning in March, 2015 from Abu Dhabi, …