Meet the pilots behind the sun-powered plane that can 'fly forever'
Solar Impulse is a single-seater
aircraft designed to have "virtually unlimited autonomy," aiming to
become the first sun-powered plane to circle the globe.
Round-the-world journey
On The Move explores the world of future personal transport looking at the latest trends and tech innovations that shape global travel.
(CNN) -- Their CVs combined look like the envy of
all bona fide air adventurers. Pioneering ultralight aircraft? Been
there. Setting world records by circling the globe nonstop in a balloon?
Done that. Commanding the first ever 24-hour flight on a plane powered
just by the sun? Yep, you've guessed it.
And now, following 12
years of complex designs and intense training, aviation pioneers
Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg are set to conquer new heights,
taking up the challenge of the first solar flight around the globe.
The Swiss duo unveiled last week Solar Impulse 2,
a revolutionary aircraft designed to achieve the longest ever flight in
the history of aviation in terms of duration for a single pilot. It
will attempt to fly non-stop for 120 hours (yes, that's five successive
days and nights) over oceans and continents without a drop of fuel.
Made of carbon fiber,
Solar Impulse 2 is the evolution of a prototype that has smashed several
aviation records in recent years, including the first fully
solar-powered overnight flight lasting 26 hours in 2010.
During the day, the solar cells built into the wing recharge lithium batteries, allowing the plane to fly at night.
© Solar Impulse
The upgraded plane has a
huge wingspan of 72 meters, wider than a standard Boeing 747, and weighs
only 2,300 kilos -- that's about as heavy as a family car. Its wings
are covered with a skin of 17,000 solar cells that supply four electric
motors with renewable energy, while its custom-made lithium batteries
are able to store enough solar energy throughout the day to keep the
ultralight plane flying at night.
Where does pilot go to the bathroom?
Can solar power fuel future flight?
"What we have now is the
first airplane in the world which has unlimited endurance," says
62-year-old Borschberg, a father of three, who was the one in the
cockpit in 2010's record-breaking flight. "It can fly a day and a night,
it can fly a week, it can fly a month -- theoretically it can fly a
year," he adds. "It's the most energy efficient airplane ever built."
20-minute sleeping
Inside the airplane's
tiny cockpit, measuring about one and a half the interior volume of a
2013 Mini Cooper, every detail has been calculated to achieve maximum
energy efficiency while ensuring the pilot can live there for several
days. Its structure is surrounded by a high-density foam to protect the
pilot from temperatures ranging from -40°C +40°C in the absence of
heating and air conditioning.
There is enough space for
food, water and oxygen supplies, while a multipurpose seat, which comes
packed with a parachute and a life-raft, functions as a toilet. It also
reclines to allow the captain to perform physical exercises to keep
blood circulation going as well as take a nap -- but only for up to 20
minutes.
"We've learned to do
what we call polyphasic sleep," says Borschberg, referring to the
practice of sleeping several times over a day. "You need to know how to
rest, how to eat, when to go to the toilet and how to keep the body
functioning. Of course, we've also prepared for the worst -- how to jump
out if it's necessary, how to survive in the ocean with a small life
raft and how to get rescued."
Borschberg flying Solar Impulse 1 above Payerne's Swiss airbase on July 8, 2010.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images/file
To achieve all that,
Piccard and Borschberg have spent countless days and nights inside
flight simulators over the last few years. But while technical training
is crucial, Piccard says preparing yourself mentally is as important.
"You have to be ready in
your head to really visualize all the solutions," says Piccard. "All
the positive emotions around the flight that will last five to six days
alone over the ocean, and also visualize how to enjoy it -- otherwise
it's very, very difficult."
It runs in the family
If there's someone who knows about difficult, if not impossible, undertakings, then that's Piccard, a third-generation adventurer.
His grandfather was the first man to make it to the stratosphere in a
balloon while his father was the first to reach the deepest point of the
Earth's oceans, the Mariana Trench at nearly 11,000 meters.
Following in their
footsteps, Piccard developed a passion for aviation early on. Starting
out as a teenager, he soon became one of the pioneers of ultralight
flying and won several hang-glider aerobatics competitions.
In March 1999, he
completed the first non-stop round-the-world balloon flight with Brian
Jones from the UK, while four years later he joined forces with
Borschberg, an aviator, entrepreneur and mechanical engineer, to embark
on their lofty mission to build a solar aircraft that could circle the
world with no polluting emissions.
"In my family tradition
there has always been the scientific exploration and the protection of
the environment -- so this is what drives me," says 56-year-old Piccard,
who is also a doctor, psychiatrist, and a father of three. "(To) have
an interesting and exciting life but also have a useful life for
others," he adds.
Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/file
Indeed, more than just
setting new records, it's this desire to chart a sustainable path for
future generations that seems to motivate the Solar Impulse founders --
when asked whether he was at all afraid of undertaking once again
something that's never been done before , Piccard is unequivocal.
"To be really honest,"
he says decisively, "I am very afraid of living in a world that burns
one million tons of oil every hour -- without even counting gas and
coal; a world that is destroying the planet and the environment," he
continues. "I am much less afraid to fly in a solar-powered airplane
because solar power is one of the solutions for the future.
With clean technology, with renewable energy we can achieve incredible things without any fuel at all.
Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse
Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse
A future without fuel
Following last week's
unveiling, Piccard and Borschberg are now set to begin test flights in
mid-May before embarking on their 35,000-kilometer journey in March
2015. Starting from the Gulf region in the Middle East, the two pilots
will then fly over India, Myanmar and China, cross the Pacific, the
United States and the Atlantic with the aim of returning to their
departure point.
With a sluggish top
speed of just 88 miles per hour, each ocean crossing will last five to
six days, taking the total flight time up to 20-25 days over the course
of a few months. "Because it's a single pilot and the plane flies
slowly, we're going to land on every continent and switch the pilot,"
explains Piccard. "So one of us will make the Pacific, one will make the
Atlantic; one will cross China the other one will cross America and so
on."
Each stop on their
itinerary will last for several days as the Solar Impulse team wants to
organize public events to raise awareness about a more sustainable way
of life.
"This is really the
message we want to spread," says Piccard. "With clean technology, with
renewable energy we can achieve incredible things without any fuel at
all.
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