Sunday, June 9, 2013

Solar Impulse Across America: Midwest Aviation Welcomes Visit to St. Louis



By Carmelo Turdo
Solar Impulse, the innovative Swiss-designed, solar-powered aircraft that has captured the attention of the world, has landed at its only planned Midwest U.S. destination - St. Louis, MO.  Solar Impulse Across America has so far included visits to San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas and St. Louis, and the flight will continue this week to Washington, D.C. and New York.  The aircraft, piloted by project Founder Bertrand Piccard, landed at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport at 1:28am on June 4 after flying for 21 hours and 22 minutes.  With an average ground speed of 26 knots, even rush hour on the highway seems fast.  But it has been demonstrated that plane and pilot can stay aloft over 20 hours on solar-generated power.  An around-the-world flight is planned for 2015 in a second-generation aircraft.  Here are some views of the aircraft and crew in the large transportable hangar set up for the visit to St. Louis:













  















New Development: The Solar Impulse will take off around 4:00am June 14 for a flight to Cincinnati, Ohio prior to flying to Washington, D.C.  Midwest Aviation provides another waypoint for the Solar Impulse as it works its way across the U.S.

By Fred Harl

Here are some more views of the Solar Impulse without the cockpit cover:













 

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