On May 13, 2011, HB-SIA, the first Solar Impulse aircraft, landed at Brussels airport after completing the first international flight by a solar-powered aircraft. The Switzerland to Belgium flight, which is a roughly 300 mile trip, reached an average altitude of 6,000 ft (1,829 m) with an average speed of 50 km/h (31 mph).
The pilot was Solar Impulse co-founder Andre Borschberg.
Here’s the full editorial of that first European solar flight:
Solar Impulse is the dreamchild of navigator Bertrand Piccard, who co-piloted the first balloon to circle the world non-stop.
Solar Impulse is a Swiss long-range solar powered plane project being undertaken by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg. The project eventually hopes to succeed in the first circling of the earth with a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power.
For later this year, the project planned a second international flight to the Paris Air Show, as well as the completion of its second Solar Impulse airplane (HB-SIA).
VIA: NDTV / SOURCE: Wikipedia
It is very interesting, but I wonder if there is any future for solar aviation. We are at least decades away from having cost effective and efficient enough solar technology to use it in aviation in a practical way.