The Solar Impulse aircraft, a pioneering Swiss plane which runs on solar energy, has set off on its first test flight from an air base in western Switzerland.
The Solar Impulse aircraft, a pioneering Swiss plane which runs on solar energy, on Wednesday set off on its first test flight from an air base in western Switzerland.
The aircraft has been developed as part of a Swiss bid to become the first to fly around the world on solar energy.
Tensions were running high as the high-tech prototype lift into blue skies at a speed of just 45km/h (28mph) at Payerne air base shortly before 10:30 a.m. (0830GMT)
Propelled by four 10 horsepower electric motors, the single-seater aircraft flown by test pilot Markus Scherdel, slowly lifted into the sky for a scheduled flight of around two hours at an altitude of around 1,000 metres (3,280 feet).
The prototype, which is slightly smaller than the plane that will undertake the round-the-world flight, has a wingspan comparable to that of an Airbus A340 airliner but weighs as little as a family-sized car at only 1,600 kilogrammes (3,527 pounds).
Andre Borschberg, co-founder of the project, along with pioneering round-the-world balloonist Bertrand Piccard, said the first flight was primarily aimed at testing the complex aircraft's behaviour in the air.
German test pilot Markus Scherdel smiles after completing his first flight on solar-powered Solar Impulse plane in Payerne. The craft is a pioneering Swiss plane which been developed as part of a bid to become the first to fly around the world on solar energy.
"It's a very important moment after seven years of work," he told journalists shortly before take off, adding that the team was "prepared, but facing the unknown."
Piccard admitted that some of the components and novel control systems could go wrong during the first flight.
"We hope that doesn't happen, but it could happen," he added.
The Solar Impulse prototype had briefly taken off for the first time in December for a controlled 400-metre hop about one metre above the runway, but a full flight had been delayed for weeks until weather conditions improved.
The aircraft's long, slender wings are covered with about 12,000 solar cells that fuel its 400 kilogramme battery packs and the electric motors.
The tests are due to build up to a first non-stop 36-hour flight through darkness, followed by a five-stage flight around the world in 2012.
© 2010 AFP
