Watch the Solar Impulse, the solar-powered Swiss aircraft prototype with a colossal wingspan, grace the skies at the recent Paris Airshow.
As we’ve reported previously here, the Solar Impulse is the brainchild of Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg and was launched in late 2003. The pilots aim to develop the Solar Impulse into the first solar-powered aircraft able to fly both day and night and pilot it around the world without relying on traditional fuel sources in the hope of reducing aircraft pollution.
The world record-setting Solar Impulse first flew in December 2009, and made its first night flight in July 2010. It made its first international flight, 13 hours from Payerne, Switzerland to Brussels, Belgium in mid-May, and then flew on to Le Bourget for the Paris Airshow.
The Solar Impulse, which has four electric motors powered solely by solar energy collected from 12,000 solar cells spread across its massive 63.4m (208ft) wingspan, capped off an amazing Paris Airshow with a 20-minute display flight on Sunday June 26. Watch the below video to see the Solar Impulse soar gracefully over an A380 (which has a wingspan of just under 80m) and various other airliners and business jets. Gilles Fournier, President of the airshow, declared afterwards: “This flight was the highlight of the airshow and there was a very strong emotion amongst the crowd.”
Read more about the innovative Solar Impulse project here.
The Solar Impulse prototype HB-SIA. (Solar Impulse)
