Swiss pilot to undergo 3-day solar flight simulation

February 20, 2012

Andre Borschberg (R) and joint founder and president of Solar Impulse project Bertrand Piccard in 2011

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Pioneering Swiss solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse pilot Andre Borschberg (R) and joint founder and president of Solar Impulse project Bertrand Piccard in 2011. Borschberg will undergo a three-day simulated flight for a new Solar Impulse aircraft that can travel around the world powered only by solar energy, organizers said

Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg will undergo a three-day simulated flight for a new Solar Impulse aircraft that can travel around the world powered only by solar energy, organizers said Monday.

The test will allow the pilot and co-founder of the project to assess the configuration of the cockpit and simulate the effects on the human body of a flight of several days, said the Solar Impulse team in a statement.

The flight simulator will be at Duebendorf, in eastern Switzerland, and will run from Tuesday to Friday.

The second aircraft is under construction and will be larger than the first aircraft which completed a flight in Europe last summer.

It is designed to fly around the world in 2014, in five stages, piloted by Bertrand Piccard and Borschberg.

The first prototype of the plane, covered with and powered only by , made a series of European flights in mid 2011, and the plane was shown at the Brussels and Paris Air shows.

"We will continue building the new aircraft and expect to have a in 2013," press officer, Alexandra Gindroz, told AFP.

(c) 2012 AFP


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