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Solar planes are not the green future of air travel
The Solar Impulse 2 only has enough power to carry 2 tons of weight, including a single passenger, at a top speed of just 43 miles per hour. By contrast, a Boeing 747-400 can transport 400 people at top speeds of 570 miles per hour. (A gallon of jet fuel packs about 15 to 30 times more energy than a lithium-ion battery of the same weight.) (www.vox.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
oh yes--It is going to be great fun flying at 30mph from LAX to South Africa. Of course, you have to take off and land under perfect flying conditions. That shouldn't add more that a day or two to the typical flight.
I think someone may have said the same of the Wright flyer...
I don't see the point of this post. The stated purpose of the Si2 project is to demonstrate the capability of solar power, not to promote solar powered airplanes. Any comparison of this aircraft to a conventionally powered aircraft is completely inapt.
Let the experiment have a little more time and we shall see. This new technology will be further developed
This project is not to show a way to power commercial aviation, but rather a way to show how we can get away from the polluting petroleum products we now rely on. It is to show that we can use wind and solar to replace to oil. Those who think this is stupid, don't understand the point. We need to seek alternatives to oil. Wind and solar are never ending sources of energy. I mow my 3 acres with a GE Elec Trac E-15 electric lawn tractor. I charge it's batteries with a Harbor Freight solar cell. I use only solar energy to mow. It used to cost about $15/mowing for gas to mow 3 acres. We need to think about changing.
The proof is in the pudding. Almost all of the recent innovations, e.g., fly-by-wire, composites, glass cockpits, on and on, were met with bleats from the close-minded. Aviation is only about 100 years old and I’ve witnessed this negativity for half its existence. (Yeah, I’m old.)
If you are a “vest pocket scientist,” will you know that electric motors are approximately 90% efficient while fossil-fuel engines are about 30% efficient at converting energy into rotating motion. All we have to figure out is a way to power it without an electric cord. That’s exactly what they are doing. It’s a tall order, so let’s give ‘em a break..!
Solar Impulse can stay in the air almost indefinitely, day and night (except near the poles during their winters.) That alone should strike one as impressive. It certainly strikes NASA and the military and the spy agencies as VERY impressive. (You can Google that.)
As for being “green..” — nothing is completely green, and will never be as long as humans are around. It’s just a matter of degree. About all you can do is buy some time. (George Carlin, RIP, says it best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tncnWp67wQI. “The planet will be fine.. The people are f***ed.”)