Record Solar Plane Flight

[mako88sb]

Pretty impressive accomplishment:

http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/07/03/solar-powered-airplane-lands-in-hawaii-after-record-breaking-5-day-flight-from-japan

However, this comment is a bit ridiculous:
"Nobody now can say that renewable energies cannot do the impossible,"

I don't know. Seriously, does anybody here think a passenger plane similar to a 747 or A-380 in capability will ever be possible using solar power alone?

[Torplexed]

However, this comment is a bit ridiculous:
"Nobody now can say that renewable energies cannot do the impossible,"

I don't know. Seriously, does anybody here think a passenger plane similar to a 747 or A-380 in capability will ever be possible using solar power alone?

Good question. Solar Impulse's slow speed, light weight and 72m wingspan put significant constraints on the type of weather the vehicle can handle, and that first sortie was aborted after just one day in the air because of a fast developing cold front ahead of it. The craft sounds a bit like a latter-day zeppelin without the passenger capacity. An interesting but brief dead-end experiment in the history of flight.

The backers of the Solar Impulse plane say is not really intended to be a vision of the future of aviation. Rather, it is supposed to be a demonstration of the current capabilities of solar power in general. However, I can certainly see more solar powered drones in our future that rarely have to land. That sounds both good and scary.

[Harvs]

Maybe the concept could be used for drone type aircraft that could stay up for months or even years in a monitoring role, or even a cheap alternative for communication in remote areas.