An experimental Swiss airplane has made the first leg of journey from its home base to Madrid, Spain. The Solar Impulse made the layover in Madrid en route to Morocco attempting to make its longest flight ever powered only by solar energy. AFP reports the unusual plane took off after a two-hour delay due to fog and landed at a busy Spanish airport.
* The first leg of the transcontinental flight took off at 8:30 a.m. local time May 24. It landed in Madrid at 1:28 local time, a journey of nearly 17 hours.
* NewScientist.com has a dramatic picture of the Solar Impulse coming in for its landing in Madrid. Several landing lights adorn the massive wings as it landed at Madrid-Barajas airport.
* The next leg is scheduled for a 20-hour, 800-km (497-mile) flight from Madrid to Rabat, Morocco. That's a predicted average speed of 25 mph.
* The Solar Impulse is just the first model constructed to test the feasibility of solar flying. A second model is being built to attempt a complete circumnavigation of the Earth in 2014.
* Designated the HB-SIA, the airplane has a wingspan of 63.4 meters (208 feet). That's the same width of an Airbus A340 and 10 feet wider than a Boeing 747. The plane weighs as much as a car.
* The Solar Impulse is covered with 11,628 monocrystalline silicon solar cells. There are 10,748 on the wing and 880 on the horizontal stabilizer.
* The average flying speed is 70 kmh (44 mph) and the plane takes off at 35 kmh (22 mph). There are four propellers along the wings that generate 10 horsepower each to move the craft forward.
* Batteries are installed near the propellers. The stored power allows the aircraft to fly at night.
* More efficient photovoltaic cells could have been used to generate more power, but they would have made the plane heavier. To lighten the load, designers used less efficient solar cells.
* The Solar Impulse holds world records for solar powered flight. The highest height reached by the solar plane is 9,235 meters (30,298 feet). The longest duration of a flight is 26 hours, 10 minutes and 19 seconds. The all-day flight occurred in July 2010.
* The entire journey from Switzerland to Morocco will take 1,550 miles. The solar plane will stay in Madrid for three days as the plane is checked out. Pilot Bertrand Piccard will man the Solar Impulse from Spain to Morocco. The craft seats one person. Andre Borschberg flew the experimental airplane on the first leg, according to MSNBC.
* In a worst-case scenario, the pilot carries a parachute.
* The destination of Morocco is no accident. The country is embarking on a 2000-megawatt solar energy project that will create enough solar energy to power the entire country by 2020.
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