Marco Angelo D'Souza
The dream of flying had always fascinated mankind since ancient times but it was not until the Wright brothers in the beginning of the 20th century that the dream became true.
Since then, flying have evolved and today there are planes and aircraft that can travel three times the speed of sound. Men have travelled into space and back and even landed on the moon thanks to these flying machines.
All these while, these flying machines have been using fuel. However, the latest flying machine or aircraft needs no fuel to take to the skies.
Solar Impulse 2, the astounding aircraft, landed at Ahmedabad, the first leg of its 35,000 Km round the world journey last week and has been the talk the technology world.
A product of two Swiss gentlemen Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the Solar Impulse 2 span from wingtip to wingtip is 72 meters which greater than a Boeing 747-8 and roughly equivalent to the height of a 24-storey building.
Its airframe, crafted almost entirely from carbon fibre, is one of the reasons why the entire aircraft tips the scales at just 2,300 Kg - about the same as a fully-loaded Tata Sumo you’ll see plying our highways. And all of this propelled by four electric engines that run on the sun’s energy, powering the craft around this little rock in space we call home.
Key specifications of the Solar Impulse 2
Capacity: A single pilot
Wingspan: 72 meters; larger than that of a Boeing 747-8
Weight: 2,300 Kg
Power: 17,000 solar cells--just 135 microns thin (the breadth of a human hair), integrated atop the wing surface, supplying four electric motors (17.5CV each)
Energy storage: 633 Kg of Lithium Ion batteries
