Consider for a moment how inexpensive cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages would be if flying did not require the consumption of oil. On Thursday, July 8th a pilot controlled experimental solar powered plane successfully completed 24 continuous hours of tests in the air, proving that a plane can collect enough energy from the sun to keep flying all night.
The custom built plane has a very thin fuselage and a wingspan of a Boeing 777 passenger jet with a bathtub size cockpit. It was able to climb to 28,000 feet and reached top speeds of over 75 miles per hour.
The Swiss team running this project proved that emissions free air travel is possible. However, they readily acknowledged that solar technology will not be replacing conventional jet propulsion in the near future. The projects main goal is testing and promoting new energy efficient technologies.
Prior to this test many so called experts had expressed skepticism that solar energy could ever be used to take a pilot into the air and keep him there for more than a very short period of time.
The Swiss team is now planning to build a second solar plane that will be even more efficient and have a larger cockpit to allow for longer flights.
They plan to eventually develop a solar powered plane that will be able to fly around the world with only five stops along the way.
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