Solar plane lands in Phoenix on first leg of US journey

[DigitalBuddha]

Solar plane lands in Phoenix on first leg of US journey

A solar-powered airplane that developers hope to eventually pilot around the world has landed in Phoenix Arizona on the first leg of a flight across America.
The plane, dubbed the Solar Impulse, took off from San Francisco Bay around 20 hours earlier.

The owners of the plane, that has the same wingspan as an Airbus A340 but it weighs just 1.6 tonnes, hope to finish the voyage in New York.

Wave of the future - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22414444

[LotsaBadKarma]

According to Google Maps the driving distance from San Francisco to Phoenix is 754 miles and takes about 11 hours and 2 minutes of driving time.
The article "implies" that this plane took 20 hours to make the trip. The video says that the trip took 19 hours. Hell, the Dude's '73 Torino could have made the trip faster.
This thing is aerodynamic as all get out, too. Not a big, round, bulky tube like an Airbus at all.
Maybe they should have postponed the hype until they had something that could average more than about 40 miles an hour on a short trip like this whilst carrying passengers.   

[Caesar dude]

I think the point being made is that this has been an achievement in it's own right.

It's a world first in aviation and that is special as there are very few firsts to be had nowadays in the field.

Maybe they should have postponed the hype until they had something that could average more than about 40 miles an hour on a short trip like this whilst carrying passengers.

You could have said that about the Wright brothers 110 years ago! Sheesh, until it can fly for more than 1 minute and carry me and 300 others to Asia, I couldn't care less! Bloody press hyping it up again!

Peace dude.

[DigitalBuddha]

According to Google Maps the driving distance from San Francisco to Phoenix is 754 miles and takes about 11 hours and 2 minutes of driving time.
The article "implies" that this plane took 20 hours to make the trip. The video says that the trip took 19 hours. Hell, the Dude's '73 Torino could have made the trip faster.
This thing is aerodynamic as all get out, too. Not a big, round, bulky tube like an Airbus at all.
Maybe they should have postponed the hype until they had something that could average more than about 40 miles an hour on a short trip like this whilst carrying passengers.   

My answer to that is this; "despise not small beginnings, dude," as a beginning (and one that couldn't fly more than about a hundred feet in the air), this...



...lead to this, which put a man on the moon, only 40 years later...



The point is that they are proving out a technology, not trying to break any speed records.

[LotsaBadKarma]

Maybe you guys are right. I do tend to be overly critical at times. I guess this was one of those times. This is good news, I was just looking for a real big piece of good news.

[Caesar dude]

Now this is a time when the phrase "nothing is fucked here dude" is appropriate!

Call back in in a hundred years time and lets see where the solar aeroplanes are then? You may be pleasantly surprised!