An Aviation Milestone

Aviation news is always interesting, and sometimes downright fascinating, Last week was one of those times. Last week in Payerne, Switzerland, the Solar Impulse took off and flew for 87 minutes or so, climbing to 5,500 feet. During the flight not a drop of fuel was used. The entire flight—takeoff, climb, tests, descent, and landing—was conducted 100% on solar power. Project leader Bertrand Piccard—he of the record-setting round-the-world balloon flight of 1999—said the goal is to build another such aircraft to fly unfueled around the world in 2012. The Solar Impulse has the wingspan of a Boeing 747 and weighs about as much as a car. It flew at 28 miles per hour—that’s slower than a J-3 Cub suffering from iron-deficiency anemia (if any of you are old enough to remember that ad). This is all made possible by the development of tiny solar cells that fit by the zillions on the surface of a new material. Skeptics, of course, suggest this is mostly irrelevant because it is known that solar energy does not have enough “power density†to operate heavier aircraft. Yep, but ten years ago I reckon it was “known†that nothing at all could fly on solar power alone. Kinda reminds me of when Benjamin Franklin watched a hot-air balloon fly back in his day. Someone asked, “But of what use is it?†Franklin answered, “Of what use is a newborn babe?†All of this is relevant, if only because it shows the immense effort of people around the world to come up with ways to reduce both pollution and our dependence on fossil fuel. Week before last, at Pratt & Whitney, Hartford, CT, I saw a cutaway model of a jet engine built in the 1960s and another cutaway model of the latest P&W model. Even to a nontechie like me, the improvement in fuel efficiency was vast and obvious. It is always a joy to watch the free market hard at work on the big problems of the world. We’d love to post your comments. Please click on the comment tab at the top.