Solar globetrotter

The Solar Impulse aircraft, a pioneering Swiss bid to fly around the world on solar energy, took off on its first test flight from an air base in western Switzerland on Wednesday. Tensions were running high in the team as the high tech prototype lifted into blue skies at a speed of just 45 km per hour after a one km run down the runway at Payerne air base shortly before 10.30 am. Propelled by four 10 horsepower electric motors, the gangling single-seater aircraft and test pilot Markus Scherdel slowly gained altitude for a scheduled flight of around two hours at an altitude of 1,000 meters. The prototype has a wingspan comparable to that of an Airbus A340 airliner, but weighs as little as a car at only 1,600 kg.

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