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Another long distance solar-powered flight

Solar plane makes successful flight over Moroccan desert Herald Sun,  AFP June 22, 2012 A SOLAR-powered plane has completed a flight over the Moroccan desert to showcase renewable energy, as a key summit in Rio discussed “greening” the world economy.

The Swiss-made Solar Impulse landed in Ouarzazate at 26 minutes after
midnight (2326 GMT) after having taken off from Rabat at dawn on
Thursday.

“Once again, the flight was magnificent,” Borschberg said shortly
before landing.

Earlier, during the flight, pilot Andre Borschberg told AFP by
satellite telephone from his cockpit said he was optimistic about the
chances of success…..
Earlier this month, fellow inventor and adventurer Bertrand Piccard –
who made the first non-stop around-the-world balloon flight 13 years
ago – flew Solar Impulse from Madrid to Rabat.

It was the first-ever flight between two continents by an aircraft
that does not require a single drop of fuel.

“Our journey shows that there are other ways of saving energy and of
saving the environment and the planet,” Borschberg told AFP from the
cockpit of his plane, which looks like a giant glider.

At one point, about half-way into the final and toughest leg of the
solar plane’s trip, the craft was flying over the Atlantic towards the
port city of Casablanca at a speed of about 62 kilometres per hour
(38.6 mph).

Friday’s landing point, Ouarzazate, is where the Moroccan authorities
plan to build the largest solar power station in the world….. Last
month, the solar-powered plane made the 2,500-kilometre (1,550-mile)
journey from Madrid to Rabat, its longest to date and its first
between continents, after an inaugural flight to Paris and Brussels
last year.

The flights are intended as a rehearsal for the goal of a
round-the-world trip in 2014 by an updated version of the plane.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/news/solar-plane-makes-successful-flight-over-moroccan-desert/story-fn32891l-1226405361121

June 23, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, decentralised