2010: World’s first solar-powered aircraft to fly through the night

In 2010, HB-SIA moved to its new home from Dübendorf to Payerne. Dübendorf is the location for the construction of the Solar Impulse aircrafts while Payerne is where flight tests happen. In April, test pilot Markus Scherdel took the prototype for its first flight, lasting 87 minutes and up to 1'000 meters altitude. André Borschberg flew the prototype for the first time in May and in June already embarked in an unprecedented feat that also became a world record: a fully solar-powered night flight lasting 26 hours. After this technological success, Solar Impulse undertook two Swiss flights: Payerne-Geneva and Payerne-Zurich.

February

• 3 February: HB-SIA moved from Dübendorf to Payerne. Difficult undertaking given the size of the wings (were unassembled into 3 parts).

March

• 16 March: Testing of pilot equipment to ensure functionality even in emergency situations. Test done in a wind tunnel in Rümlang (ZH).
• 31 March: Bayer MaterialScience becomes an official partner of Solar Impulse.

April

• 7 April: First test flight of HB-SIA during 87 minutes and up to 1000 meters altitude, piloted by test pilot Markus Scherdel.
• 22 April: Second test flight proving controllability and maneuverability of the aircraft.

May

• 8 May: Third test flight and first one with a real cockpit installed.
• 16 May: Fourth test flight to check the modifications and improvements done to HB-SIA.
• 24 May: André Borschberg – CEO of Solar Impulse – flies HB-SIA for the first time during an hour.
• 28 May: First fully solar-powered flight of HB-SIA, piloted by André Borschberg.

June

• 3 June: Night test of cockpit instruments.
• 5 June: Eighth flight test up to 11’000 feet (3’300 meters) with the aim to approach 4’000 meters. Pilot: Markus Scherdel. HB-SIA landed safely in Payerne after 4 hours and 50 minutes of flight, maximum altitude 3’657 meters, and with a set of batteries fuller than at the time of take-off.
• 24 June: Ninth test flight of 14 hours and 7 minutes and an altitude of 8717 meters above sea level. Equipment tested: oxygen supply and limits of the aircraft in flight.

July

• 8 July: World’s first solar-powered airplane to fly through the night. HB-SIA, piloted by André Borschberg, successfully completed the day and night flight lasting 26 hours. Three FAI World Records were awarded.  

September

• 5 September: Solar Impulse receives Swiss Solar Prize in the category “Individuals and Institutions”.
• 21-22 September: First Swiss flights - Payerne to Geneva and Payerne to Zurich.

120 enthusiastic visitors became fascinated by our idea and were even motivated to take their own ecological actions.Thomas Probst from Kestenholz
«The presentation was overwhelming. As a software development engineer for engine building, I'm especially interested in this project, which I've been following since the very beginning. Today, the huge wingspan of the aircraft has impressed me the most.» Guido, Beatrice and Sandro Erni from Untersiggenthal
«We're very pleased that Swisscom are partners of Solar Impulse. It's very important to spread the message of Bertrand Piccard across the world because we need ecological changes. Just now we have decided to chose and adopt a solar cell within the supporters program in order to add our little contribution to this brilliant undertaking. What we didn't know before today: that Bertrand Piccard will also pilot the aircraft from next spring on-wards and that there will be a new model for the final orbit around the earth.» Lorenz Stöckli from Bern
«I wouldn't have thought that this aircraft consists of so many different materials. Even better than the technical parts I liked the story from Bertrand Piccard about the shipbuilder. Unbelievable, that no aircraft designer was willing to accept the offer to construct the wings and that in the end it was a shipbuilder who accepted the challenge and was able to make the HB-SIA fly. That example proves to me that everybody can make things move if one really wants to.» Jakob und Sonja Aeschlimann from Zofingen
«We think it's admirable how Betrand Piccard is able to gather people and financial means for his visionary idea. This really gave us a buzz. We were planning our own project for a sustainable solution in our home but left it due to financial reasons. Now, we will look into this again.»

The two-seated power glider Arcus has been electrified by Willi Balz, a passionate pilot, but also an industrialist of aeolian energy (info@windreich.ag). 20 meters wingspan, a 40 hp engine on a retractable mast and in the wings lithium-polymer batteries. They are recharged with which energy, you ask me? With a wind turbine on the roof of the hangar that stores the energy in simple lead-acid batteries to make up for days without wind. Willy is a purist. I could fly the Arcus near Stuttgart for half an hour with no thermal lift and there were still 35% of reserves. In the right season, the batteries give more than enough to catch the upwash and go for a flight of hundreds of kilometers! Hard to believe that some people still buy traditional combustion engines.

"European Voice", the weekly newspaper published by the British “The Economist” group, nominated all of them for the election of the European of the year. So far, so good. However, the race for the title has a flaw: With its categories “National politician of the Year”, “Commissioner of the Year”, “Member of the European Parliament of the Year” and “EU official of the Year” it comes off as fresh and attractive as a piece of crispbread. Fortunately, this has also been noticed by the people at the Economist, which is why they added as a fifth – and most important – category the "Inspiration of the Year" and nominated Bertrand Piccard for this award.

We hope now, of course, that all of you are active electors who will vote for Bertrand and his inspiring vision of Solar Impulse. The closing date for voting is 31 October.

The preview of the movie Hidden Beauty by Disney Nature seduced us. Previously, during the explanation of certain projects, it seemed increasingly clear that despite the goodwill of NGOs, sustainable success in the field of environmental protection will be obtained only by political decisions on highest level. That may be what is the strength of the Foundation of Prince Albert which is lead by a Head of State. Early in the era of blogs, only ten years ago, it was the french blogger Loïc Le Meur who introduced me to what was still a huge novelty. And now who do you think I who still hesitates to twitter ran into at 1 am in an elevator in Tokyo? The same Loïc who proves to me that Solar Impulse can not call itself an innovator if I don't twit. Well, probably I'll join his great Twitter Fair in Paris in December, trying to be convinced!It's said that Asians ask only few questions after a lecture. This is not the experience that Andre and I have made in Kyoto, Tokyo and Shanghai where we have given four presentations for Solvay and Omega, and for the STS Forum (Science and Technology for Society). We were simply overwhelmed by the questions that were posed following the programs. It's a pleasure to see the interest in new technologies in these countries!