Planet saving solar technology shows promise;
“The aircraft, which set off from China on Saturday (GMT), had hoped to reach Hawaii by the end of the week.
But a developing cold front over the ocean is blocking its path and pilot Andre Borschberg has decided to play safe by putting down in Nagoya.”
So there, deniers.
h/t Maz2
Irony alert.
This appears to be essentially a powered sailplane. It’s very slow; they are calling for 100 hours from Hawaii to Phoenix. It flies low enough that it is at the mercy of the weather. In winter, or on cloudy days, I expect it would be unable to fly for long.
Good luck to them. I don’t think this stunt will prove much more than the fact that the relevant technology has been getting incrementally better. Which we all know, anyway.
I wonder if these folks know about (Winds Aloft) They can play murder for small/light aircraft.
Plus I wonder, what happens when the plane runs into strong head winds.
Why don’t we just cut to the chase and outlaw all trans-oceanic flight,and replace it with clipper ships.
They take about the same amount of time to get where they’re going and you can at least travel in comfort.
If we’re going backwards, let’s do it in style.
It’s time for practical people to take over and set the dreamers and fantasists adrift.
As a novelty story, it’s cute. As a serious alternative to almost anything, it’s a complete waste of time, proving only that some people have too much time and money on their hands. If it’s a message from the green lobby, the only thing that resonates is , like everything else , the efficiency is on par with windmills. Terrible, unreliable and unsustainable with the only objective being first to circumnavigate the world using only solar power. Woopee, but my give a damn barely registers on the gauge. Like buying a Corvette with a Briggs and Stratton under the hood. Why ??
This is a prelude to a new economy style of flying for the general public.
“All those with flashlights may now board and take a window seat.
Please keep all flashlights aimed at the wing panel areas marked in green for both landing and takeoff.
Passengers without lights will be charged an additional $35 flight sustainability fee.
In the event your light goes, another passenger may forcibly remove you from your seat, providing they have a light that will maintain flight safety.
Failure to comply will be cause for permanent banning on all future SuzGore Airlines flights and a $30,000 Eco Awareness fine.
SuzGore Airlines assumes no responsibility for delays, non arrivals,injuries or anything you might think has to do with flying or your general well being.
Be thankful you chose SuzGore Airlines for your traveling needs.
Can’t help but think that this is little more than a publicity stunt timed to complete just ahead of the Paris COP.
It is however demonstrating the futility behind much of the “alternate energy” push. Don’t be surprised if the media coverage goes silent if it fails.
As an engineer with a pilots license I fully appreciate the technical challenges of the project but it has zero practical application.
I just hope that no one loses their life in attempting this dangerous and pointless flight.
Is is coincidence he’s going WITH the jet stream?
“Orville, you were only in the plane for 34 seconds! How can my luggage be in Chicago?”
developing cold front
Once extinct, these won’t be a problem.
You beat me to it, Don. The clipper ship, Thermopylae made it from London to Melbourne in 61 days in 1868. And it carried useful cargo.
Arguably this exercise has been a huge success. It demonstrates unequivocally that since the patent for the first solar cell in 1894, this technology will never have more than small niche applications.
On the bright side, they have only lost their luggage twice.
The Illiterati on Twitter or whatever will be demanding solar powered 747’s now, and if it doesn’t happen they’ll go batshiat crazy about the oil companies.
I look forward to solar powered commercial air travel. I’m sure a round trip (which takes three months) from Vancouver to Toronto will cost less than $50,000. Not much less though.
No doubt big oil using chemtrails to cause disruptive weather for their journey thus keeping promising solar technology down.
There are some comparisons with clipper ships in comments here that put them ahead in speed and cargo
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/06/02/solar-plane-flight-aborted-due-to-bad-weather/
This comment repeated here
”
Steam Powered Flight.
At least this one had space for more than the pilot but we’re still waiting the potential.
“And One More
This is a history of piston engines, and not all piston engines have been internal-combustion types. The gasoline engine made the airplane possible, but steam has always had its advocates, and, in 1930, the steam engine finally powered an airplane. Besler, a maker of logging locomotives, installed a V-twin compound in a Waco Ten (some sources say a Travelair) and flew successfully in California. Steam enthusiasts, as might be expected, went bananas at this, but Besler broke their hearts by announcing that he had no intention of trying to develop his engine further; he had proved that it could be done and was satisfied (Fig. 11-17).”
From Smith, H. (1986). “A History of Aircraft Piston Engines”. Sunflower University Press.”
Imagine what Besler might have managed if government subsidies had been available?
Perhaps they could change the flight plan to include Howland Island…
Actually, while demanding that solar be used exclusively is PC-stupid, exploring solar is not going to cause the world to come to an end. Heck, if I could drive my car without having to pay for gasoline, I’d be happy, so why not an airplane? To force economically-impractical solutions for poltical reasons is wrong, but to explore other possible solutions is good thinking. Right now this is impractical, but so was the airplane in 1910 or the automobile in 1890. Things change and tech needs to be judged on it’s viability, not on its conformity with dogma.
That would be a great plane to fly…if you were building time. 90 kph in a plane would cause me to suck the bullets out of my gun. What are the odds that an experienced glider pilot is at the controls of that ship?
Other media sources state that the reason this plane is grounded is because it needs clear skies all day long to generate enough electricity for charging the batteries to sustain night flying when their is no sunlight.
In other words this voyage is just fancy PR gimmickry for solar power with no real world applications.
SuzGore Airlines! That is funny, but suits the project. Love it.
A fool and his money etc.
“The transAtlantic air routes are paved with the bones of dead test pilots.” Really, as is suggested above, it makes more sense to jump directly to clipper ships.
I live about 20 minutes from Montreal city
yesterday and the day before I had to turn on the heat in my house
In the morning it was 17 Celcius in the house ( with the heat off )
I am 55 years old and can not remember ever having such cold temperature in early june.
I have not checked but this could be some cold temperature record for this region and time of year.
sailing vessels used to be considered state of the art.
friend….. in fort drum n.y. it was 4 c this am. I am not blind stupid or as dumb as a bag of rocks. four times I entered the captcha, re read it and four times the right one was wrong. now on number five I get a different one.
Now they done busted it