NEW DELHI: In what seems like a realization of Jules Verne’s fantastical imaginations, Andre Borschberg, a Swiss air force pilot and Auguste Piccard, a veteran adventurer, have built a unique aircraft which is propelled solely through solar energy. The two are going to attempt to circulate the earth during a 5-month long sojourn, with the plane having landed in India this weekend.
The Solar Impulse-II aircraft, which is a larger and more sophisticated version of the first prototype built five years ago by the same team, is equipped by 17,248 solar panels mounted on its stretched wings which span 235-ft and are larger than those of a Boeing 747’s. It weighs in at a feathery 2300 kg, which is equal to a small truck, or a minivan. An empty Boeing weighs a hefty 180,000 kg -- how’s that for comparison?
The plane took off from Abu Dhabi, and is expected to finish circling the globe by beginning of August. The daunting journey will be marked by many stopovers during its course, including one in Ahmedabad on March 10, and then Varanasi.
“It is also exciting because you know, you simulate, you calculate, you imagine, but there is nothing like testing and doing it,” Borschberg said just before the take-off.
The 5 month, 35,000 km voyage will see the duo spend close to 500 hours in the sky circumnavigating the globe. Each flight, some of which will last longer than 5 days, will not only rigorously test the limits of Solar Impulse 2’s durability, but also that of the pilot’s mental and physical well-being. Indeed, one of the biggest challenges faced by the team is mitigating the strain on the pilots who will spend five or more consecutive days in confinement; their muscles will atrophy, and the increased levels of carbon dioxide and lactic acid will increase tiredness. The immune and digestive systems will be impacted as well, not to mention the psychological toll the long periods of isolation could bring. To put this in perspective, the ordeal of flying in an unpressurized cabin at a high altitude for consecutive days has been compared to attempting to climb Mt. Everest back and forth for days straight.
After India, SI—2 will head for China where it will halt for a month, till the time days are long enough to make sure the plane catches sunrays. The longer flights -- where the plane will be flying for five straight days -- involve legs over the Pacific and Atlantic. During the daytime the plane will fly at the height of 25,000 ft to tap maximum solar energy, while during the night it will glide at around 5000 ft. Keeping in view its light weight and other aerodynamics, the plane’s speed is set at 25 miles per hour or 28 knots.
While Borschberg has been a pilot with the Swiss air force and has flown Hunters, Tigers and Venoms for 20 years; Piccard, though a psychiatrist by training, is not new to the game and holds the world record for being the first to circumnavigate the globe in a hot-air balloon in 1999, along with Brian Jones. He comes from a family of adventure junkies, including grandfather Auguste Piccard, a balloonist himself, and father Jacques Piccard, an undersea explorer -- who became the first person to go to Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the ocean.