Fly at the cost of a train

Now, you can fly around in any part of the world in a solar propelled aeroplane, without any artificial fuels being used. That is right! There is no need to worry about the high fuel cost, which is generally included in your ticket. With zero fuel, your flight travel will be soon cheaper like that of a train.

Introducing the Solar Impulse 2, the world's first and biggest ever aeroplane, that runs entirely on the Sun's energy. This ambitious project has been privately financed by two experienced pilots - Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, two Swiss pilots. The Solar Impulse project intends to achieve the first circumnavigation of the Earth, by a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power.

The aircraft are single-seat monoplanes powered by photovoltaic cells and capable of taking off under their own power. The prototype was designed to remain airborne up to 36 hours.The place departed from Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, on April 9, 2015 and is expected to be back by August 2015. It also has a backup energy storage of around 10 hours, for the plane's engines to run smoothly during night hours, even in freezing weather conditons

The Solar Impulse 2 has various new features and finishing touches. It features a much larger, non-pressurized cockpit and advanced avionics, including an autopilot to allow for multi-day transcontinental and trans-oceanic flights. It also has a 10 kW electric motor and one twin-bladed propeller.

To keep the wing as light as possible, a customised carbon fibre honeycomb sandwich structure was used. Supplemental oxygen and various other environmental support systems allow the pilot to cruise up to an altitude of 12,000 metres or beyond that. It has a maximum speed of around 50-55 km/hr.

A mission control centre for the circumnavigation was established in Monaco, for utilizing satellite links to gather real-time flight telemetry and remain in constant contact with the aircraft. The aircraft is currently and will be circling the world in the northern hemisphere itself. The closest it will get to the equator, will be a flyby of Honolulu in Hawaii, when it lands there sometime in July 2015.

Around 13 stops are planned to allow the alternation and rest periods of pilots Borschberg and Piccard; and to ensure good weather conditions for each take-off and landing site along the route. The legs of the flight crossing the Pacific and Atlantic oceans are the longest stages of the circumnavigation; and are each expected to take about five days, covering a distance of more than 8000km.

If the Swiss pilots completes their circumnavigational trip by August this year, this will be the first ever plane to run for long distances without any fuel. They are almost creating history, and in such a way, that it will completely revolutionise the way of travelling by air.

The main idea is to use renewable sources of energy like solar and wind to its full extent, as non-renewable resources are expected to be exhausted within few years. Also, it wants to encourage people, particularly from the lower classes to use air transport as an alternative means and reach any place instantly, with zero fuel cost and no hassles.

This article is authored by Prateek Chakraborty, presently interning with DQ Channels.