overtaking things that have engines II

RideOnTime
RideOnTime Posts: 4,712
edited March 2015 in The cake stop
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31792985

Slow down.........

Comments

  • t4tomo
    t4tomo Posts: 2,643
    was the bike part of the take off process or was that one of the pilot's mum with his cheese and pickle sandwiches he'dleft at home?
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  • RideOnTime
    RideOnTime Posts: 4,712
    The narrator sounds suprised that it won't be travelling overnight!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

    Why is that?

    It's a solar powered plane for f@cks sake.
  • Wunnunda
    Wunnunda Posts: 214
    It does carry a lithium-ion power pack and is supposed to be able to go through the night under ideal conditions. It's limited more by crew fatigue than anything else.
  • capt_slog
    capt_slog Posts: 3,946
    What they really need is something like a streamlined balloon type object that they could fill with a lighter than air gas so that it would float. It would be quite big, but that would give them loads of space to put the solar panels to drive the engines. When the sun went down, they could just hang in the air until the next day.

    :mrgreen:


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  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,329
    Capt Slog wrote:
    What they really need is something like a streamlined balloon type object that they could fill with a lighter than air gas so that it would float. It would be quite big, but that would give them loads of space to put the solar panels to drive the engines. When the sun went down, they could just hang in the air until the next day.

    :mrgreen:
    Wouldn't that be a solar airship rather than a solar plane? Or does it only have to be a solar powered flying thing?
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  • RideOnTime
    RideOnTime Posts: 4,712
    Ryanair are flying them but only to destinations around the equator that are 50+ miles from where you want to go.
  • team47b
    team47b Posts: 6,425
    I live in a totally solar powered house, I switch the landing lights on at night :D
    my isetta is a 300cc bike
  • lakesluddite
    lakesluddite Posts: 1,337
    I suppose if you travelled west at the right speed, then you'd never need to fly at night.

    If you wanted to get back home, you'd just have to keep going.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 51,364
    I presume that they left early in the morning to maximise the daylight charging before night.
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  • MountainMonster
    MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
    Things like this really intrique me. I work mainly within the environmental sector, and solar is a big part of that. If they can manage to make it commercially viable to fly planes like these, and sort of some of the kinks, then we are in for some huge carbon reductions!

    Can't wait to see what the future brings.
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  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    LakesLuddite wrote:
    I suppose if you travelled west at the right speed, then you'd never need to fly at night
    Yeah, round about 1000mph if you're genuinely going all the way round the world, i.e. at the equator.... might be easier closer to the poles, but you could have a problem with the angle of sunlight. Unless you went so close to the pole that you were flying a banked turn right around it non-stop...

    I guess the "ideal conditions" for flying all night include a last gasp dive toward the rising sun to catch some rays before you can pull up again?

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