Ιπτάμενος Γύρος της Γης με ''Ηλιακή'' Πτήση

Το Μάρτιο του 2015 ξεκίνησε ο πρώτος ιπτάμενος γύρος της Γης με ''ηλιακή'' πτήση, από το Αμπού Ντάμπι στη Χαβάη. Αυτός o πρώτος περίπλους του πλανήτη χωρίς καύσιμο ολοκληρώθηκε με επιτυχία το 2016, από τους Bertrand Piccard και André Borschberg, πιλότους και Ιδρυτές της Solar Impulse.

Αυτοί οι πρωτοπόροι, θέλοντας να προωθήσουν τη χρήση ανανεώσιμων πηγών ενέργειας για μια καλύτερη ποιότητα ζωής, κατάφεραν να πετάξουν 40.000 χιλιομέτρα χρησιμοποιώντας ένα ιπτάμενο εργαστήριο καθαρής τεχνολογίας, το ηλιακό τους αεροσκάφος.

Λεπτομέρειες για το εγχείρημά τους αυτό, εδώ: 

Where to start from, when, and where to go?

Because it is not possible to fly over oceans and continents in a single attempt, the solar airplane is doing its round-the-world flight in a total of about ten stages. These stops give the plane respite before setting off again. They also allow the pilots to take over from each other, as the plane is a singleseater: the only seat in the cockpit is the one for the person at the controls.

Departure time and location for the round-the-world flight have not been decided by chance. The plane needs good weather in order to fly. The month of March is early enough in the year to avoid flying over India during the monsoon; a season in which the winds blow very hard and the rains are abundant. The Arabian Gulf region has been chosen because it has constant sunshine, which is needed to charge the plane with solar energy.

To determine the flight path that Solar Impulse will take in the sky, many factors must be considered: weather, air traffic areas, also the height of the land to be flown over and the performance of the airplane. A team of engineers and meteorologists based in Monaco Mission Control Center (MCC) determines the best route for the plane and then prepares the flight plan. Once the route is chosen, overflight and landing clearances must be negotiated for each country. 

Περισσότερα στο: http://www.solarimpulse.com/adventure/route