"David R. Birch" wrote in message
...
On 7/3/2015 2:24 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"David R. Birch" wrote in message
...
On 7/3/2015 12:48 PM, Steve W. wrote:
Ed Huntress wrote:
One would have to be pretty jaded or cynical not to be impressed
by
this. The Solar Impulse 2 made it from Japan to Hawaii:

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/...acific-flight/



Guess I'm both then. 240 hours or so to fly 1 person on a flight
that
takes about 12 hours to fly 200+. And they had to wait for
perfect
conditions to do it.

I agree, its as pointless as what the Wright brothers or Lindbergh
did. The Wright brothers' plane was only in the air for about a
minute and Lindbergh didn't carry paying passengers or cargo.

Why did they even bother? Fortunately, history has forgotten them.

David


Lindbergh was between the 85th and 93rd (??) person to fly across
the
Atlantic. His claim was a non-stop solo; a multi-crew seaplane flew
it
in 1919.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_NC-4
"The accomplishment of the naval aviators of the NC-4 was somewhat
eclipsed in the minds of the public by the first nonstop
transatlantic
flight, which took 15 hours, 57 minutes, and was made by the Royal
Air
Force pilots John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown, two weeks
later."

How many did it solo before Lindbergh?

None, and few have since because it's unnecessarily dangerous and
proves nothing about the aircraft.

In 1967 the actress who played Vina in Star Trek's "Menagerie" became
the second woman to fly a single-engined aircraft solo from New York
to Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Oliver

I've used my flight sim to retrace Lindbergh's exploratory flights to
scout out transoceanic airline routes.
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/100...lindbergh.html



While the solar plane is an advance what we need is lower-cost
solar
power, not lowest weight at high cost.

So the fact that it is being done means nothing and will not inspire
others to improve on the tech? Make it cheaper and cost effective?

Sure.

David

Research funding and a market will inspire improvements. I don't know
how practical the goal of 24/7 flying WiFi hotspots is. Thunderstorms
reach higher than airliners can climb and have brought down several,
like Air France AF447.

This is the competition to solar-electric aircraft:
http://archive.defensenews.com/artic...oll-Dirigibles

Both can stay on station a long time, neither is a practical people or
cargo transport.

Having worked in the R&D field I'm just wary of becoming enthusiastic
over publicity stunts. I want to see practical applications.

-jsw