SOLAR IMPULSE
Solar Impulse carried out the first night flight ever in early July 2010 - based entirely on stored solar-power. August 2010
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Bertrand Piccard: Extreme Aviator
Bertrand Piccard, the Suisse father of Solar Impulse, is preparing to realize one of his craziest human odyssey dreams: to go around the world by airplane without using a drop of fuel! This is a portrait of an uncommon man…
Last December 3 [2009], on a Suisse airfield not far from Zurich, the Solar Impulse plane left the ground for the first time. The brief flea hop is already a historical date for aviation. Indeed, this prefigures the trip around the world that Bertrand Piccard and his partner André Borschberg will try to accomplish in 2012. The stakes: to fly day and night an aircraft exclusively powered by solar energy, a “zero fuel aircraft” with the dimensions of an Airbus A 340 and weighing barely…1,600 kilos!
Professor Calculus’ grandson
At 52, Bertrand Piccard has an unusual CV. He is a psychiatrist, explorer, goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, as well as pioneer of free flight in Europe (notably in micro-light and hang-glider flying). He also succeeded with Brian Jones from the UK to carry out the first ever non stop around the world balloon flight (in the Breitling Orbiter 3).
His thirst for adventure is most likely due to genetics. His grandfather, Auguste, was the man who went both the “highest” and “lowest” in the world, reaching 16,000 meters of altitude in 1931. He then invented the bathyscaphe to descend into the depths of oceans. He inspired Hergé, the Belgian cartoonist, and was the role model for the character of Professor Calculus (also known as Tournesol) in Tintin.
Bertrand’s father, Jacques, became a dignified successor when he set the absolute diving world record in January 1960, that was never beaten since, for his descent to 10,916 meters to touch the bottom of the Mariannes Trench (Pacific).
Francis Groff of Acacia Prod interviews Bertrand Piccard in Abu Dhabi during the 2010 World Future Energy Summit:
You have three daughters. Is one going to join this long line of adventurers?
Things have changed. Today, the adventure is not found in the conquest of the planet, but in the conservation of the quality of life. During the twenty-first century the pioneers will be those who will work for the fight against poverty, sustainable development, human rights, etc. There is work for all children of the world and not only for mine in that field. There remains an enormous amount to do, notably in politics, because we do not have real acceptable governance on this planet…
Nonetheless, Solar Impulse is indeed a “real” adventure, in the classical sense of the term…
Yes, but I initiated the project Solar Impulse with the aim of promoting the quality of life with renewable energies, with better energy effectiveness, because our dependence on oil is a disaster for mankind in the same way that dependence for cigarettes or alcohol is for man.
It that the doctor in you talking?
All of my activities revolve around the functioning of the human, in extreme situations too. My engagement as a doctor is also what pushed me to create the Foundation Winds of Hope [aimed at fighting noma – a mutilating disease due to malnutrition that affects thousands of children]. I remain as ever a doctor, even if I do not practice very much anymore. Today, I make a living as a motivational speaker. That gives me the independence and the necessary freedom to keep the Foundation going and for me to engage in Solar Impulse [see http://www.solarimpulse.com for details].
What will Solar Impulse bring you that you do not already have?
It is philosophically very different: going around the world in a balloon was a personal dream, whereas Solar Impulse is a project that is deeply useful, especially in symbolic terms. If we can demonstrate that an airplane can go around the world without fuel, then we will be able to say that it’s also possible for cars, air-conditioning, heating or whatever else.
Concretely, how is the experience going to unravel?
The average speed will be 70 km/h, with the solar panels simultaneously running the 4 engines and loading the batteries that will propel the airplane through the night until the next day. Given the meteorological conditions and the winds, the flight could take 20 to 25 days. The other pilot, André Borschberg, and I should replace each other every five days.
This means then that each one will fly 120 hours consecutively before landing and giving the airplane over to the other?
Exactly. But that is music of the future. For the moment, we want our first prototype, HB-SIA, to demonstrate that it is possible to spend the night on a solar airplane relying on energy stored during the day. We will initiate in mid-March [2010] altitude flights with solar energy that are increasingly longer: the objective is to achieve as soon as possible a complete day-night-day cycle.
A beautiful story of technology and friendship?
Friendship is something that is very important. And it is not by chance, for example, if Solvay is our first partner in the project Solar Impulse. My grandfather was a good friend of Ernest Solvay and he participated in the physics councils with other experts like Albert Einstein or Marie Curie.
And then, there is Luc Trullemans, the Belgian meteorologist who continues to guide you, like he did for the balloon adventures.
Luc is an extraordinary person. He was a center-piece of the adventure Breitling Orbiter with Pierre Eckert from Météo Suisse. Together, they guided us around the world; they found favorable winds and correct altitudes for us. Today more than ever, Luc remains part of Solar Impulse thanks to a technical partnership with the IRM [royal meteorological institute] who delegates him and his colleague, David Dehenauw, to us. They lead trajectory simulations at regular intervals with the latest technical data of the airplane.
How does your wife live your adventures? With resignation? With fear?
On the contrary, my wife, Michèle, is very confident because she knows that I am an explorer, not a dare devil! And she is part of the team.
You have lived – and you will live again – passionate and intense adventures. If you had the faculty to decide your death, what would be your choice? To die in the air like Molière died on stage? But the question is perhaps delicate…
The question is not delicate; it is probably too intimate for me to respond, even if I know the answer. But I would like a conscious death. It must be interesting to die calmly and consciously, in order to understand what is happening and to observe where we go.
Interview and photograph by Francis Groff from Acacia Prod published in Le Vif-L’Express, www.levif.be, February 19, 2010, pp. 68-69.
COP15 Copenhagen, Denmark, December 7-18, 2009
28/03/09 – After Copenhagen
23/12/09 – No pact, but it’s not the end of the world
20/12/09 – Sahara Forest Project shows promise
19/12/09 – US position shows climate change issue more politicized
17/12/09 – Danish official pins hopes on ‘no regret solution
14/12/09 – Still no signing of a binding agreement
12/12/09 – China clarifies its climate commitment
12/12/09 – “We’re facing our greatest challenge”
06/12/09 – No agreement yet, but some progress
The Arab Gas Pipeline
Stuart Reigeluth, Forward Magazine, February 2010