In a video filmed exclusively for WIRED, Bertrand Piccard offers a unique insight into the round-the-world mission
In the coming weeks, Solar Impulse 2 is set to complete its round-the-world journey. The aircraft, being flown in shifts by Swiss entrepreneur Andre Borschberg and psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard, is an attempt to promote clean transport.
In an exclusive video filmed for WIRED, pilot Bertrand Piccard talks of the team’s excitement at the upcoming completion of the round-the-world trip and reveals a unique and personal insight into what it’s really like to fly in the coffin-sized cockpit for days at a time. The footage was captured on Piccard’s own camera as he made the recent 70-hour journey across the Atlantic.
“We’re getting closer and closer. Hopefully in July we can celebrate with our team, our partners, our supporters, everyone who believes in clean technologies,” explained Piccard. “It’s not just a first for aviation, it’s a first for clean technologies. Flying around the world with no fuel…that’s the future we want to show.”
The tiny cockpit – which measures just 40.9 square feet – has room for instruments, a small amount of food and a reclining chair. Pilots can have a daily food allowance of 2.4kg and 2.5 litres of water.
During the footage, Piccard takes an incredible selfie of him and his giant plane. He shows off the plane’s seemingly complex controls, including the switches and generators that convert the solar energy. He reclines in his seat to turn it into a bed, and films inside his modest food supplies. The pilots are only able to sleep for 20 minutes at a time, and alarms make sure they don’t doze for longer.
Credit WIRED/YouTube/Solar Impulse
Behind Piccard’s seat on the Solar Impulse 2 you can see photos of his wife, Michelle, and his three daughters, and beneath the seat hides a toilet which Piccard quips is a must during long journeys.
The video is a fascinating look at the humble cockpit on board a record-breaking and innovative plane.
The plane’s specifications
Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) can reach maximum speeds of up to 87mph, though its average speed is around 50mph. This may not sound fast but because it is powered by solar power rather than fuel, it can fly for days – or, theoretically, forever.
The plane weighs slightly more than a car but has the wingspan of a Boeing 747 (236ft or 71.9 metres) and is powered by more than 17,000 photovoltaic cells which cover the wings and fuselage. It weighs 2,300kg.
What’s next for Si2?
The team said its 35,000km trip is “90 per cent” complete. It has already completed 15 legs of the trip and has two, possibly three, more to go. It left Abu Dhabi in March 2015 for its year-and-a-half long round-the-world trip.
The journey has previously included a five-night and five-day journey from Japan to Hawaii, which at the time broke a record for the longest uninterrupted journey in aviation history.
Following its Atlantic crossing, it will now fly through Europe and on to the Middle East back to Abu Dhabi.
“What lies ahead for the remaining 10 per cent? Still a mystery,” the team wrote on its blog. “We’ll be flying to Egypt or Greece, and in another three flights or so we’ll be landing in the summer heat of Abu Dhabi.”
“Success will be measured by the number of kilometres we’ve accomplished, but most of all by the number of people we will have inspired to follow their dreams and make the world a better place,” the blog concluded.
Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/exclusive-solar-impulse-video-what-it-is-like-to-fly
Article By: EMILY REYNOLDS
