World Governing Body for Aeronautical Records Affirms Solar Plane Broke Record for Longest Flight
Tuesday, December 28th 2010 6:48 PM
By GetSolar Staff.
Far above the Arizona desert, a solar powered aircraft eclipsed the world record for a long-standing endurance flight after it flew uninterrupted for 14 consecutive days this past summer.
The world governing body for aeronautical records confirmed that the plane, built by British defense contractor QinetiQ, broke the previous record of 12 days. In total, the solar powered airplane was airborne for 336 hours, 22 minutes, besting the record held by Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Global Hawk drone.
Dubbed Zephyr, the plane broke the record this past July over the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in sunny Arizona, utilizing the state's ample sunshine to power its flight. The flight also marked the longest continuous time a plane has gone without refueling, according to the Federation Aéronautique Internationale.
Soaring through the sky like a bird of prey, the Zephyr, with its 73-foot wingspan, was powered from a remote location by the British military. The Zephyr maintained a cruising altitude of 70,000 feet during its flight and its engineers hope the spy plane will prove as adept at the tasks it is designed for, including "tracking pirates in the Gulf of Aden, detecting bush fires in Australia, and improving battlefield communications and surveillance in Afghanistan."
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Far above the Arizona desert, a solar powered aircraft eclipsed the world record for a long-standing endurance flight after it flew uninterrupted for 14 consecutive days this past summer.
