A plane powered by the sun's rays has landed in Hawaii after a record-breaking five-day journey across the Pacific Ocean from Japan.
http://westhawaiitoday.com/news/state-wire/solar-powered-plane-lands-hawaii-after-flight-japan
Solar Impulse, the aeroplane that is powered only by the sun, has landed in Hawaii after making a historic 7,200km flight across the Pacific from Japan. Pilot Andre Borschberg brought the vehicle gently down on to the runway of Kalaeloa Airport at 05:55 local time (15:55 GMT; 16:55 BST).
The distance covered and the time spent in the air - 118 hours - are records for manned, solar-powered flight. The duration is also an absolute record for a solo, un-refuelled journey. Mr Borschberg's time betters that of the American adventurer Steve Fossett who spent 76 hours aloft in a single-seater jet in 2006.
Despite being in the cockpit for so long, the Swiss pilot told the BBC that he did not feel that tired: "Interestingly, not really. "I am also astonished. We got so much support during the flight from so many people; it gave me so much energy."
Pretty amazing feat. Not only the longest solo flight, but also without burning a drop of fuel.
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Saturday July 04 2015, @01:29PM
If I was building an experimental aircraft, I think I could afford an autopilot - although it wouldn't be a particularly complicated or capable one. You can buy autopilots for boats in the few thousand dollar range. There's not much to them: a servo-arm that pulls and pushes the tiller and a computer that maintains the heading. That covers left/right so you'd need another one for up/down. Once the plane is up and flying, it's pretty much "maintain heading and altitude" probably for hours at a time. The computer can quite happily be told to alarm if the system can't maintain the course or other critical thresholds are reached.