Solar plane flies for 54 hours

A lightweight solar-powered plane has smashed the official world record for the longest-duration unmanned flight.

UK defence firm Qinetiq, which built the Zephyr unmanned aerial vehicle, said it flew for 54 hours during tests.

news.bbc.co.uk...

This is an interesting project and perhaps a sign of times to come. There was another effort by Boeing, that ran out of Moses Lake, that was supposedly aloft for 80+ hours. I am not sure which record, if any, was set by the Qinetic group, to date (depending on which group certifies the records). However, it may be a matter of time before they have the all-time (unclassified) record.

reply to post by TAGBOARD


I agree that this is unlikely to be the true record, I'm sure they don't want to reveal the really good stuff until they have to.

If they are telling us about a 50+ hour flight, I expect there is a 100+ hour flight they aren't telling us about.

Did you see the video of the launch? It's quite amusing the way they throw it into the air to get it started.

I have only seen still images of the launch and I agree they are good! The folks are caught in strange poses...HA HA. Are you (or anybody) aware of any links that show a video of the launch?

Sorry, I just noticed the link with the video. Very good. It really looks flimsy as it's launched. They must be limited to launching with low winds...like at night and morning.