Geneva, May 24, 2007 – The Solar Impulse Virtual Flight 2007 controlled from the Salons Piccard at the Geneva International Airport has concluded last night at midnight UTC. This mission which started in Honolulu on Monday, May 21, has flown successfully non-stop to Phoenix, Arizona, a distance of 6’120 km.
The mission team has guided this aircraft through strong wind conditions close to the coast of Mexico where it was forced to turn back out to sea and into wind to avoid being carried towards severe storms in the Gulf of Mexico. These storms prevented the flight from continuing to its planned destination in Florida, providing us with valuable training experience to deal unexpected situations.
The simulation has demonstrated that with our current design, it will be possible for the very first time to achieve a manned over-night flight with a solar powered airplane despite encountering severe headwinds and strong down-draughts.
One of the critical elements is the ability for the batteries to store sufficient energy from the sun during the day to keep the motors turning throughout the night.
The success of the mission has reinforced the confidence of the pilots, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg that their pioneering dream may indeed come true.
