Bertrand Piccard's Plane Would Be Huge

Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard is at it again. This time, he plans to circumnavigate the world in a solar-powered aircraft.

Piccard and his partner, Brian Jones (together, above), thrilled the aviation world in 1999 by becoming the first men ever to circle the globe in a balloon. Now, the German newspaper Der Zeit reports Piccard has launched a venture called "Solar Impulse," aimed at doing the same thing, only with wings and a solar-power cell.

Der Zeit quotes Piccard as saying his aircraft will have a wingspan greater than that of a 747. He said the aircraft will be completely covered with solar cells. It will have one or two pusher-props and will be able to take-off unassisted. At night, Piccard said the aircraft would be powered by energy stored in batteries.

"The challenge this time is to influence the history of air transportation by exploiting new technologies that satisfy the demands of our era for sustainable development and the use of only renewable forms of energy," Piccard explained.

Although the aircraft is only single-place, Piccard told Der Zeit the project has three pilots: himself, Jones and engineer Andre Borschberg.

FMI: www.solar-impulse.com/en/index.php