In the next five months, "Sunshine Power II" will also fly over all continents of the earth and cross the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Flying over two oceans will be a major test for all-solar aircraft.
Andre Borschberg, the partner and CEO of this project, and Bertrand Picard * * * share the task of flying the plane. The first trip from Abu Dhabi to Muscat, the capital of Oman, was controlled by Andrei Bursch Berg.
On the second day of the flight, the plane took off from Muscat at 6: 35 a.m. local time and arrived at Varabapatel International Airport in sardar at 23: 25 p.m. local time.
The next flight of the plane will fly to varanasi in northern India. 2015 March 19 at 7: 52, Sunshine Power 2 was driven by Bertrand Picard and embarked on a new journey! The fourth voyage is from varanasi to Mandalay, Myanmar, with a flight distance of about 1408km and an estimated flight time of 20 hours.
On March 9th, 1965, at 2 1: 00 and 2 1: 00 Beijing time, Bertrand Picard successfully landed at Mandalay International Airport in Myanmar. At this point, the fourth phase of the round-the-world flight successfully concluded the voyage from varanasi to Mandalay, Myanmar.
Set a new speed record
Total distance from varanasi to Mandalay 1408 km, actual time 13 hours and 29 minutes. With the help of downwind high-speed airflow, Sunshine Power 2 set a new speed record, reaching 2 16km/h, and the overall time was also saved a lot than expected. On March 30th, 20 15, SolarImpulse2 took off from Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, and flew to Chongqing, China. This flight is the fifth stop of this solar-powered plane's round-the-world tour.
Previously, due to the weather, the "Sunshine Power 2" team waited in Mandalay for more than a week until the weather conditions in the southwest improved and it was suitable for the "Sunshine Power 2" flight.
Trip1375km, estimated time18h. In addition, piccard needs to use its own oxygen because it flies at high latitudes most of the time.
The world's largest solar-powered plane arrived in Chongqing on the morning of March 3, 2065438 1: 35, and will stay in Chongqing for a few more days. At 23: 28 on April 2, 20 15, the plane landed slowly. After a flight of 17 hours, Sunshine Power II, the world's largest solar-powered aircraft, which has attracted much attention, finally arrived in Nanjing, the sixth stop of its round-the-world tour, and successfully completed its only voyage in China.
Nanjing is the sixth stop of this solar-powered plane's round-the-world tour. According to the plan, it will stay in Nanjing for 20 days, during which it will make a series of visits, and then continue to fly eastward across the Pacific Ocean to the United States. 1931on may 27th, the Swiss inventor Auguste Piccard climbed to the altitude of 1578 1 m in a homemade hot air balloon, which was the first time for human beings to reach the stratosphere. Back and forth, he made 27 hot air balloon flights, and the final record was 23,000 meters.
Auguste deserves to be an explorer. From the mid-1930s, he began to change his interest and turned his eyes from the sky to the ocean. He made some modifications to the designed hot air balloon cabin, which can be applied to deep-sea diving.
Auguste's second submarine was named Trieste. 1960, this submarine carried Jacques Picard, son of Auguste, into the "Challenger Abyss" in the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.
One of the founders of the solar power project is his grandson Bertrand Picard, an explorer and psychiatrist. Bertrand himself flew this plane driven by pure solar energy from Madrid to Morocco, achieving a continuous flight of 19 hours. Also won the "Guardian of the Earth Award" issued by the United Nations Environment Programme in 20 12.
Picard must have a flying gene burning in his veins. Sunshine Power is not the first solar-powered airplane in the world, but it is definitely the most ambitious airplane. After all, solar-powered planes have never been overloaded at night.
In the 1970s, cheap solar cells appeared in the market, and the history of solar aviation began. It was not until 1980s that the first manned solar plane appeared in the world.
In the United States, the team led by Paul MacCready designed and developed the aircraft "the Gossamer Penguin", paving the way for the next "theSolar Challenger". Sunshine Challenger, with maximum power of 2.5 kW, 198 1 successfully flew over the English Channel. It has made several consecutive voyages of hundreds of kilometers, and can fly for several hours at a time. At the same time, Gunter Roche of Europe also achieved the first flight of his "Sun Challenger" plane. It is equipped with 2500 photovoltaic cells, which can generate 2.2 kilowatts of electricity.
1990, American Eric Raymond flew over American territory in 2 1 flight segments with a flight time of12/hour, which lasted nearly two months. The longest flight distance is 400 kilometers. "Sun Chaser" is a solar glider with a wing angle of 30 degrees and a net weight of 89 kilograms, equipped with amorphous silicon solar cells.
In the mid-1990s, several solar-powered airplanes were born and joined the "Bo bullinger" competition. The goal of the competition is that the plane can climb to a height of 450m with the help of batteries, and keep flying horizontally with at least 500W/m2 solar power supply, which is equivalent to the energy provided by solar energy at noon in the equatorial region.
The team led by Professor Voit-Niczmann of Stuttgart University won the competition with 1996. The plane they are flying is called Icarus 2, with a wingspan of 25 meters and a fuselage equipped with 26 square meters of solar panels.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the Helios aircraft manufactured for American AeroVironment Company can't carry people, but its position can't be underestimated. The wingspan of this remote-controlled plane is more than 70 meters, and it set a record of climbing altitude of nearly 30,000 meters at 200 1. But two years later, it encountered airflow during the flight and crashed in the Pacific Ocean.
In 2005, Alan Cocconi, the founder of American AC Propulsion Company, operated an unmanned aerial vehicle with a wingspan of 5 meters, flying continuously for 48 hours only by solar energy. Because the solar cells loaded on the aircraft can collect and store energy, this kind of aircraft has achieved complete night flight for the first time.
20 10 From July 9 to 23, Zephyr UAV of QuinetiQ Company realized 336 hours and 22 minutes of uninterrupted flight. The aircraft weighs 27kg, with a wingspan of12m and an altitude of 21562m. Sunshine power engineering-speaking with numbers;
Feasibility study, concept formation, design and construction in 12
50 engineers and technicians
80 technical partners
More than 100 consultants and suppliers
1 prototype (Sunshine Power 1, registered as HB-SIA)
1 set of finished machine (Sunshine Power No.2, registered as HB-SIB)
Challenge 1: energy supply-how to fly over oceans and continents?
solar cell
More than 17000 solar panels have been installed, which can generate 340 kwh of electricity every day, covering an area of 269.5 square meters. More precisely, 17248 single crystal silicon batteries with a thickness of only 135 micron were installed on the wing, fuselage and horizontal tail, thus achieving the best balance of portability, flexibility and efficiency (23%).
In order to maximize aerodynamic performance, the wing length of Sunshine Power 2 even surpassed that of Boeing 747, reaching 72 meters!
storage battery
After solar panels collect energy, it will be stored in lithium polymer batteries, and its energy density is optimized to 260 WHr/kg. The battery is sealed in high-density foam, installed in four engine compartments, and has a system to control the charging valve and temperature of the battery. The total weight of the battery is 633kg, accounting for only a quarter of the total weight of the aircraft.
In order to save energy, the plane will climb to an altitude of 8500 meters during the day and fly at a low altitude of 1500 meters at night.
Challenge 2: Flying distance-more than 35,000 kilometers.
engine
24-hour average power 15 horsepower, equivalent to scooter engine. The maximum power is 70 HP (4 17.5 HP engines).
Under the wing, four brushless induction motors are installed, each of which can generate 17.4 horsepower (13.5 kw), and there is also a deceleration device to limit the rotation speed of the four-meter diameter Shuang Ye propeller to 525 rpm. The efficiency of the whole system is 94%, setting a new record for energy efficiency.
speed
The speed of sunlight power is basically the same as that of automobiles, with the maximum flight speed 140km/h (77 knots) and the minimum flight speed of 36km/h (20 knots).
When flying at sea level, the maximum flight speed is 90 km/h (49 knots) and the minimum flight speed is 45 km/h (20 knots).
At the highest altitude, the maximum flight speed is140km/h (77 knots) and the minimum flight speed is 57km/h (3 1.5 knots).
Challenge 3: the weight of the fuselage-as light as a feather
Slim and elegant
Under the leadership of Andrei Boschberg, the engineers used extraordinary skills to reduce the weight of the whole structure in a balanced way. Every time you add one gram of weight, you will lose one gram in other places, so that you can put enough batteries on the plane and create a cockpit environment that allows pilots to live for a week. In the end, the weight of Sunshine Power 2 is similar to that of a minivan, only 2300 kilograms!
Sunlight Power Engineering has promoted the innovation in the field of carbon board, and its weight is as light as 25g/m2, which is only one third of that of printed paper.
firm
The fuselage is made of composite materials (carbon fiber and honeycomb sandwich structure).
The upper surface of the wing is covered with a sandwich composed of sealed solar cells, and the lower surface is a high-strength flexible thin layer. There are 140 carbon fiber ribs in the wing every 50 cm (20 inches), thus forming an aerodynamic partition to ensure the firmness of the wing. The first item, high-efficiency solar panels, is only 135 micron thick.
The wing of "Sunshine Power 2" is equipped with 17248 ultra-thin and efficient solar panels. These boards are very thin, and each board is only 135 micron thick, which is equivalent to a human hair.
Second, install a lithium-ion battery and fly at night on cloudy days.
Flying continuously for 5 days and 5 nights, how can the plane fly at night or when there is no sun on cloudy days? Aircraft are equipped with energy conversion and energy storage technologies to improve energy efficiency. These devices are installed to meet the needs of day and night flight, and 633 kilograms of lithium-ion batteries are installed in the engine pod. In this way, the electricity generated by solar panels can be used not only for daytime flight, but also for night flight. With the energy reserve, the plane doesn't have to worry about rainy weather.
Third, the insulating film keeps the airplane battery and the pilot warm.
Many new composite insulating films have been used in airplanes to keep batteries and pilots warm. These technologies have been applied to some refrigerators and frozen products.
Fourth, if the pilot is tired, turn on the automatic flight mode.
The man-machine interaction technology adopted by "Sunshine Power" 2 can start the automatic flight mode when the pilot is tired, without worrying about the abnormal situation. The plane is equipped with telephone, network and other equipment, which can contact the ground at any time. The plane can fly uncontrollably for 20 minutes. A control center in Monaco (a country in southwest Europe) has controllers and engineers to monitor the plane at any time, and the security personnel will wake up the pilot under any circumstances.
Aircraft researchers predict that such a tall technology will be expected to be used for blind navigation, and fatigue monitoring technology can be used to improve drivers' driving safety.
The fifth item, special food, is still fresh when the temperature changes suddenly.
Special foods can withstand sudden temperature changes and remain fresh. The research and development personnel of the food sponsorship company said: "Ordinary food will soon become inedible after experiencing environmental changes of MINUS 20 degrees Celsius to MINUS 30 degrees Celsius. So we cooperated with a Swiss company to develop some foods that can be eaten at different temperatures. These foods can be eaten either by heating or at room temperature or low temperature. " Special food can not only ensure adequate nutrition, but also produce chemical reaction after eating, providing heat for pilots.
Sixth, the energy scheduler, in the event of aircraft failure to achieve energy balance again.
In "Sunshine Power 2", there is an energy dispatcher. If one of the four engines of the "Sunshine Power" aircraft breaks down, the dispatcher can switch the energy supply from the engine with insufficient power to the engine with good operation, so as to achieve energy balance again. The new DC cockpit has made a major breakthrough in reducing the weight of electronic equipment inside the aircraft dashboard, with a weight reduction of 50%. On March 9th, Switzerland issued a commemorative coin for the first round-the-world flight of the world's largest solar-powered aircraft "Sunshine Power" 2. The Swiss commemorative coin issuing company said in a communique that it is unthinkable to fly around the world only by solar energy, and this test flight will promote the concept of using clean energy to the whole world.
Silver commemorative coins have a face value of 20 Swiss francs and a limited circulation. The lucky one who can buy this commemorative coin will be drawn from the subscribers. In the summer of 20 13, Sunshine Power lasted for more than two months, from west to east, and finally completed its historic mission of flying over the United States. As a revolutionary innovation project, it pried open the door of extraordinary technology and human adventure spirit just by a plane.
In the city where the plane stopped along the way, many people came to visit Sunshine Power, including important political, business and opinion leaders, as well as partners, students and the public.
In the mission of flying over the United States, Sunshine Power launched the global initiative of "Clean Generation" for the first time. This initiative aims to unite like-minded people and let everyone wave the flag for clean technology innovation. At the same time, with the progress of the task, the Sunshine Power Project has attracted more and more supporters. The names of the supporters are saved on a USB flash drive and they fly across the United States with the pilots in the cockpit of the plane.
Route: Starting from San Francisco (California), passing through Phoenix (Arizona), Dallas (Texas) and St. Louis (Missouri), stopping in Cincinnati (Ohio), and finally flying to Washington, D.C. and new york. One day in the spring and summer of 20 15, you may see such a scene: a plane with a wingspan exceeding that of Boeing 747 and driven by solar energy only flies over the city, and the cabin that can only accommodate one person is a 62-year-old Swiss man.
62 years old, this age for most uncles in Shanghai means that they can finally have a rest and do something they didn't have time to do when they were young. When my uncles' plan to "dream of starting again" is still brewing, under the distant Alps, a colleague has been working hard at the intersection of passion and dream, hobby and ambition for ten years-he is Andrei Boschberg, co-founder and CEO of SolarImpulse Global Flight Plan, the world's first solar-powered aircraft. Outstanding alumni of cole Polytechnique Lausanne appeared in Shanghai to introduce the second generation SolarImpulse recently developed by him and his partners to the media, and hoped that SolarImpulse2 could land in China.
Andre Boschberg was trained as a pilot of the Swiss Air Force in his early years. In the past 20 years, it has flown over venom, hunters and tigers. He holds professional pilot licenses for various planes and helicopters and does some stunts in his spare time.
However, Boschberg is not only a simple pilot, but also a mechanical and thermodynamic engineer, investor and entrepreneur. He graduated from Fé dé rale De Lausanne, the world-famous cradle of cutting-edge technology, and obtained a master's degree in business administration from MIT. After five years as a consultant at McKinsey, he also successfully founded two Internet and high-tech companies.
After joining the Sunshine Power Project, he used his accumulated entrepreneurial skills and business management experience for more than 20 years to help BertrandPiccard, the founder and famous explorer of the Sunshine Power Project, turn his idea of a solar plane into reality.
Last summer, Boschberg and piccard took turns to fly SolarImpulse, setting a record for flying over the United States by solar plane. However, they are obviously not satisfied. In the round-the-world flight of 20 15, SolarImpulse2 will carry out continuous flight challenges day and night for five days and five nights or even longer. To this end, the technical team also made some adjustments to the aircraft-compared with "1", SolarImpulse2 is equipped with a toilet and a 3.8 cubic meter single cockpit, and even allows pilots to do yoga in it. Boschberg said that because the flight will last for five days and five nights, it is necessary to learn the work and rest mode of "waking for 20 minutes and sleeping for 20 minutes" through special training, and because there is no air conditioner and heater in the cabin, the pilot has to endure the low temperature of-15℃ in the cabin. "Practicing yoga can help me get rid of fatigue and release stress."
Someone asked Boschberg why he likes flying so much. He replied, "I didn't have movies and TV when I was a child. I spend most of my time reading books. Every time I see the deeds of pioneers in the aviation industry and heroes who have found ways to apply airplanes to transportation, I am deeply encouraged. " Even today, when he talks about his childhood heroes, his eyes are still shining.
Boschberg said that this kind of flash can now be seen more in the eyes of children who have visited Sunshine Power. "When we fly to different countries, we will definitely give local children the opportunity to visit and participate in' Sunshine Power'. Every time I see the flash in the children's eyes, I am always touched. " He hoped that more students in China would participate in the Sunshine Power Project. "Mr. piccard and I respect the exploration spirit of explorers in the last century. They have brought many possibilities for human development, and we also hope to pass on this spirit of exploration to our next generation. "
To Boschberg's pride, his son Teo inherited his innovative exploration mantle-instead of entering his father's company, he came to China to start his own business. "He said that there are new things here every day, and nothing makes him feel more passionate than the rapidly developing China. What's more, I think that a foreigner starting a business in another country is itself a manifestation of the spirit of exploration. "