eddie Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 If anyone's interested, the long leg (9000 km) from China to Hawaii is under way. It's the first night, so they are running on battery power now.http://www.solarimpulse.com/sitv Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostyn6 Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 I even looked at the site and ain't got no clue about it. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822514 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 I even looked at the site and ain't got no clue about it.First attempt to fly around the world in a solar powered plane. This is the big leg - 9000 km non-stop from China to Hawaii. Expected to take 6 days. This is the first night, so the energy stored in the batteries by the photovoltaic cells has to sustain the plane through the hours of darkness. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822543 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozza Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 is it allowed to land , or is it non-stop ? Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822620 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 is it allowed to land , or is it non-stop ?It is allowed to land, in much the same way that the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe in any aircraft was achieved in 1924 (it took 175 days). The planes (there were 4 of them which started the attempt) each had 2 crew.This is solo - the aircraft is as big as a 747 yet only has the weight of a car - an additional crew member would be a significant addition to the weight. This is the 7th leg of the circumnavigation which started on 9 March in Abu Dhabi (the 6th leg ended on 20 April in Nanjing, China). They have been waiting for the last 6 weeks for an ideal weather window - they need ideally a forecast of 6 clear days with low wind to enable the plane to make it to Hawaii. The sun is up again (sunrise was about half an hour ago and they are North of Honshu island, Japan, so they have covered 2040 km, which means there are 7084 km to go). Overnight they descended to around 1600 metres (basically a long glide to conserve power) but now they are climbing again, and will probably climb to around 8 or 9 km before levelling off (they need to get above the clouds for the solar cells to work as efficiently as possible - even cirrus clouds will have some detrimental effect). Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822640 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 I think it's just crashed. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822653 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Well, that was interesting.Over the space of 15 minutes, the instruments indicated that it had descended from 1500 metres down to 0, and ground speed dropped to 0 too. Perhaps it was an instrument problem, because the readings have come back to what they were. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822662 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozza Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Has it ? i would imagine , if it does crash any rescue attempt would be immediate , andwould just glide into the sea , or to earth safely.. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822667 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Just seen a post from mission control - they were carrying out an instrument re-calibration. Their quote..."If you see funny numbers, don't worry".All appears to be well. They are currently flying at an altitude of around 1500 metres, the batteries are showing at around 40%, and at present about half of the required juice is coming from the solar cells. In the next hour they will start to climb again. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822672 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brammie Steve Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Just had a look at this thread.fascinating subject Eddie! Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822702 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Just had a look at this thread.fascinating subject Eddie!Yes, I started a similar thread an kept people informed when Steve Fossett did his remarkable circumnavigation of the globe by balloon. It was probably on the old DET site. I've always had this thing for voyages of discovery - they fill me with optimism that one day we will evolve far beyond the sausagetism that we exhibit as a species (provided we don't blow ourselves up in the name of 'progress', of course. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822716 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashz09 Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Solar seems the way forward at the moment very intresting. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822778 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Solar seems the way forward at the moment very intresting.Yes, but at the moment only if the weather can be relied upon, of course.And that's the problem Solar Impulse has at the moment. The forecasts a couple of days ago indicated a clear window - now that doesn't appear to be the case any longer and a weather front may well impede their progress.For that reason the aircraft has been flying a holding pattern - and they may abandon the flight and return to Nanjing.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32955067 Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822785 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashz09 Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Ah great that's not good! I've always been a fan of solar since it's green but like you said not always available. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822799 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I think it's just crashed.Thought you'd jinxed it then. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822810 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 In the face of deteriorating weather, a decision has been made to divert to Nagoya, Japan, and to land there. I'm not sure what the implications are for the rest of the round-the-world attempt - the timing is such that they really need to have crossed the Atlantic before the hurricane season kicks off in August, so having to stop on the second day of the Pacific crossing is a major blow.The next leg (from Nagoya to Hawaii) may well be piloted by Bertrand Piccard (he and André Borschberg have been alternating right through. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822830 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 The ETA at Nagoya is 13:00 UTC Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822835 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Wonder if Mcsilks will give them any advice on what went wrong? Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822836 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesterRam Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 yeah so exciting, imagine in time we could be going on our holidays by solar panel. Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822875 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 yeah so exciting, imagine in time we could be going on our holidays by solar panel.Is that at the opposite end of the weather spectrum to the Pools Panel? Link to comment https://dcfcfans.uk/topic/19155-solar-impulse/#findComment-822919 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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