An experimental solar-powered plane has successfully completed its maiden transcontinental flight by landing at Rabat Sale airport in Morocco.
The Solar Impulse HB-SIA took 20 hours to complete the flight, taking off from Madrid, Spain. It has marked the first transcontinental trip by an aircraft of its kind to fly during both night and day.
Prior to the arrival at the airport, the Solar Impulse landed in Madrid from Switzerland on the first stop of the journey, which covered 1,554 miles.
According to the company, the single-seat aircraft weighs as much as an average family car; it has the wing span of a Boeing 777 and is equipped with 12,000 solar cells across the large wings, which have four rotating electrical motors.
The motors charge the 400kg lithium polymer batteries during the day and allow the aircraft to continue flight during night.
During its flight, the aircraft reached a height of 28,000ft and achieved a maximum speed of around 75mph.
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By GlobalDataThe Solar Impulse project had selected Morocco for testing due to the country’s plans to enhance its solar power dependency by constructing a huge solar energy farm in the south-central city of Ouarzazate in 2014 and generate 2,000MW of solar energy by 2020.
The overall 2,500km voyage has been illustrated as a rehearsal for Solar Impulse’s round-the-world flight, which is planned for 2014 and will have five stops.
The Solar Impulse project began in 2003 with a projected cost of nearly £6.5m over a ten year period, making its debut solar international flight from Paris to Brussels in June 2011.
Image: Solar Impulse HB-SIA experimental aircraft is planned to perform round-the-world flight in 2014. Photo: courtesy of Matth1.
