Solar powered plane hits the skies
Solar plane takes off for 24-hour test flight
GENEVA – An experimental solar-powered plane whose makers hope to one day circle the globe using only energy collected from the sun took off for its first 24-hour test flight Wednesday.
The plane with its 262.5-foot (80-meter) wingspan left Payerne airfield in Switzerland shortly before 7 a.m. (0500 GMT; 1 a.m. EDT) after overcoming an equipment problem that delayed a previous attempt, the Solar Impulse team said.
The team had hoped to make their 24-hour test flight last week when days in the northern hemisphere were even longer, allowing the plane’s 12,000 solar cells to collect even more energy before attempting to coast through the night.</em>
