Swiss Idiot Tries To Make History With Solar Wings

Jul 8, 2010 by James

A man in Switzerland apparently thinks its safe and sane to fly his model airplane around. Ok well its not exactly a paper airplane but it’s a solar powered propeller driven aircraft; that looks like a balsa wood model airplane.

André Borschberg and his “Solar Impulse Team” have been flying around an all solar aircraft in Switzerland, and he now has the ok to fly it at night. The plane itself is slower than my car,as with a tailwind it only achieved 71 mph. What is impressive however is that the man has the balls to fly the plane at night only on stored battery power. He has shut down the solar generator and is now flying only on batteries. The plane has no auto pilot, so he must stay awake the entire time to ensure he does not end up in the ground; mind you he has already been awake for over 14 hours flying. With his batteries fully charged he is expected to reach his home airfield of Payerne, Switzerland by Thursday morning.