Solar Impulse 2

The 'lithium ion battery with wings' has begun global circumnavigation. Abu Dhabi to Muscat, about 340 km in about 13 hours. Obviously not a fast airplane, but it has some interesting features.

Of great interest to me will be the Mandalay to Chongching leg, because it may pass near enough to be visible from sleepy little Kunming. That leg is almost 4 times longer than the first, so it will include at least one overnight.

The longest leg will be Nanjing to Honolulu, planned to take 5 days. Bear in mind that this is a 1-seater

 

No wiki for you?

Service ceiling = 8500 meters, the lucky pilot breathes O2 from a tank because there is no 'spare weight' or energy to pressurize the meat cell.

No idea why they started from Abu Dhabi. Gotta start somewhere.

For me, any global circumnavigation run at the edge of human and material capability is a thing. Solvay poured money into this. If you care about mercury (Hg, not the planet), they are not good guys. But now we can do carbon fiber, LiIon batteries, and 4 pretty good 11 KW motors. What remains in play are human and weather factors. It was ever thus in global circumnavigations (I suppose). Makes them fun. More fun for us now because of the internet.

The two pilots, Piccard and Borschburg, make alternate flight legs. Other pilot gets positioned by conventional transport; we'd not suppose that this is a 'no-fossil-C' activity.

But their message is that photovoltaic energy by itself can do a lot. This is, of course, completely true. There is no attempt to suggest that commercial air transport can run on anything other than jet engines burning kerosene (which means algae from a long time ago, or made just recently).

The technology is good enough (else they would not have set off), human and weather factors are in play. It has always been so, I reckon, in long flights to set new crossing records. Seeing the overflight here would be great for me, but I might jet to Chongqing to see that bird on the ground.

If this team can later get to HNL, they will have cracked the nut. Crossing the Atlantic offers several turn-back points, but crossing the Pacific is a biatch. A quick look at flightradar24 will reveal how most kerosene/jet birds handle that problem. They don't spend XXX hours over the big open.

Godspeed, Solar Impulse 2.

 

Second leg complete. 1434 km in 15 hr 20 min*. Now that each pilot has had a day in the box, they are apparently going to spend a few on the ground in Ahmedabad. Promoting solar energy is the plan, and this aircraft makes a good scenic backdrop.

* this appears faster than the rated air speed. Tailwinds.

 

The leg to Mandalay followed soon after, but followed by a long stay there. Waiting for better weather over China. The leg to Chongching (which I might just possibly see ) could be as early as tomorrow. I hope local media picks up on this.

 

Departure from Mandalay was this (Monday local) morning predawn

Solar Impulse departs Myanmar for China - Yahoo Finance

Due to terrain, this is going to be done with O2 and probably difficult to see from ground, even directly on flight path

 

SI2 is still hanging out in Chongching, waiting for a weather window. I am otherwise committed so can't go see it.

Anybody in Hawaii, pay attention when that leg happens because it will is the longest of all. History in the making

 

Now en route to Nanjing. They will wait there for good weather prospects, then the absurd 5-day solo flight to Hawaii.

 

The absurd 5-day flight has begun.

Nanjing local time 2:40 am departure. This means climb to altitude on battery power.

If anyone has a good link for west pacific prognosis charts, please post it.



Image from AFP & BBC

 

OK by me if this is not the matter of greatest interest here, but I posted the image above because this might be the last time we see this plane. Borschberg now has a very difficult task of staying awake and wrangling the beast. I reckon he would be recovered after ditching, they have good support. But the flyer would not be.

A successful arrival in Hawaii means that Piccard has to take another absurdly long trip, after.

 

Whoa. May turn back.

 

Weather diversion to Nagoya after about 21 hrs aloft.