Solar Impulse 2

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Eric Mc

121,777 posts

264 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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Scuffers said:
Eric Mc said:
The fact that somebody else did something a a different way previously does not negate a similar achievement using different technology. The first non-stop flight around the world was NOT the Rutan Voyager. It was done by the USAF in the 1950s using air to air refueling. That did not reduce in any way what Voyager achieved.
see this is the problem I have with this.

we all know any plane with air-air refueling can stay aloft for as long as you have fuel tankers, nothing new there (unlike the first air-air refueling - 1923, between two Airco DH-4B biplanes).

Rutan's plane was the first to do it non-stop and without external support (ie, showing it's 216 hour endurance).

Like I keep trying to get across, what exactly is the new, cutting edge tech in this solar plane? what tech boundaries have been broken?
Designing an ultra-lightweight airframe that can stay aloft at extremely slow speeds for a very long time. There is more to this aeroplane like this than just the solar cells and the batteries.

As I said, you have set your mind to disparage what these chaps have done and no amount of persuasion will convince you otherwise. On the other hand, I think it's great that someone has had a go at something like this and perhaps the benefits to be gained are not yet obvious - especially to those who refuse to give them any credit.

By the way, Picard comes from a long line of people who have striven for endurance and altitude records. The character in Star Trek was not called Picard for nothing.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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Scuffers said:
...providing read research data on ground vehicles running at supersonic speeds, something that will be very valuable for say, the next generation of high speed trains or the like..
I'm sorry but have a rofl for that one!