Carbon Fiber Plane Flies Without Any Fuel

A carbon fiber plane isn’t any new thing.  The Boeing 787 Dreamliner airframe is composed 50% out of carbon fiber, and it’s a no brainer for a airplane manufacturer to take advantage of the light, strong, stiff yet flexible properties of carbon fiber to develop the most efficient, and quite airplane in the world.

But this is a story about a plane like no other.  This the story about a carbon fiber

airplane that can fly without any fuel.

….say what?!

That’s right!  Not even one drop of kerosene, gasoline, or any other form of fuel out there.

But how can it fly?  Maybe they just got lucky caught a current and just flew a few hundred miles like a glider.  WRONG.

This carbon fiber plane that flew for 5 days straight from Japan to Hawaii, breaking all world records!

Impossible?  I say possible, and the secret world is “solar”.  The Solar Impulse 2 is a plane that is equipped with 17,000 solar cells, which are located all across the airplane wings and body.  These cells charge batteries which then power an electric propelled motor.

Solar Impulse project began back in 2002 and some estimate that the total cost is more than $100 million.  Which seems quite a substantial amount, but not when you consider the fact that it’s breaking records, and might even change the commercial travel industry.

Imagine a future where you get into a plane that runs only on the energy that is emitted by our sun.

Would you trust such technology?  Or would you be spooked by the cloudy skies 😉

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Source: LA TIMES