Cargo Business Newswire

Friday, April 11, 2014

Solar plane will fly around the world

This week, Solar Impulse unveiled the successor to its first solar-powered aircraft that can fly around the clock.

The Solar Impulse 2 is a craft that its makers hope will be able to fly around the world. The aircraft is an engineering wonder -- it's big enough to have a wingspan akin to a 747's, but weighs just a tad more than the average car (5,000 pounds).

The plan will take approximately five days to cross the Atlantic and Pacific at a maximum speed of 85 mph. During the day, the plane will charge run its four 17.5 horsepower engines at full speed and gain altitude, charging batteries all the way. At night, the engines will run off batteries at a much lower speed.

Test flights of the new solar plane will begin in a few weeks.

For more of the Ars Technica story: arstechnica.com