Solar-powered plane begins cross-country flight

Washington Post : The first solar-powered plane that can fly both day and night took off today from San Francisco to begin a months-long trip across the continental US. If it succeeds, it will be the first plane of its kind to do so. Solar Impulse is the brainchild of André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, who began designing it in 2003. Financed by a team of 80 partners at a cost of $140 million, Solar Impulse may prove to be the prototype for the next generation of aircraftâmdash;ones that consume no fossil fuels. Prompting comparisons to the Wright brothers’ Flyer and Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, Borschberg and Piccard’s plane has only 10 horsepower and can fly no faster than 43 mph. The tiny one-person cockpit is unheated and unpressurized. The craft is also very susceptible to weather conditions: It can’t take off on a windy day nor fly through clouds. Although it will be many years before solar-powered passenger planes become practical, Solar Impulse‘s designers hope their plane is a step in the right direction toward making aviation more energy-efficient.