Meet the Pilots Behind the Sun-Powered Plane That Can “Fly Forever”

By Teo Kermeliotis

1 Their CVs combined look like the envy of all true air adventurers. Pioneering ultralight aircraft? Been there. Setting world records by circling the globe nonstop in a balloon? Done that. Commanding the first ever 24-hour flight on a plane powered just by the sun? Yep, you’ve guessed it. 

2 And now, following 12 years of complex designs and intense training, aviation pioneers Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg are set to conquer new heights, taking up the challenge of the first solar flight around the globe. 

3 The Swiss duo unveiled last week Solar Impulse 2, a revolutionary aircraft designed to achieve the longest ever flight in the history of aviation in terms of duration for a single pilot. It will attempt to fly nonstop for 120 hours (yes, that’s five successive days and nights) over oceans and continents without a drop of fuel. 

4 Made of carbon fiber, Solar Impulse 2 is the evolution of a prototype that has smashed several aviation records in recent years, including the first fully solar-powered overnight flight lasting 26 hours in 2010. 

5 The upgraded plane has a huge wingspan of 72 meters, wider than a standard Boeing 747, and weighs only 2,300 kilos — that’s about as heavy as a family car. Its wings are covered with a skin of 17,000 solar cells that supply four electric motors with renewable energy, while its custom-made lithium batteries are able to store enough solar energy throughout the day to keep the ultralight plane flying at night. 

6 “What we have now is the first airplane in the world which has unlimited endurance,” says 62-year-old Borschberg, a father of three, who was the one in the cockpit in 2010’s record-breaking flight. “It can fly a day and a night, it can fly a week, it can fly a month — theoretically it can fly a year,” he adds. “It’s the most energy efficient airplane ever built.” 

7 Inside the airplane’s tiny cockpit, measuring about one and a half the interior volume of a 2013 Mini Cooper, every detail has been calculated to achieve maximum energy efficiency while ensuring the pilot can live there for several days. Its structure is surrounded by a high-density foam to protect the pilot from temperatures ranging from -40°C to +40°C in the absence of heating and air conditioning. There is enough space for food, water and oxygen supplies, while a multipurpose seat, which comes packed with a parachute and a life raft, functions as a toilet. It also reclines to allow the captain to perform physical exercises to keep blood circulation going as well as take a nap — but only for up to 20 minutes each time. 

8 “You need to know how to rest, how to eat, when to go to the toilet and how to keep the body functioning. Of course, we’ve also prepared for the worst — how to jump out if it’s necessary, how to survive in the ocean with a small life raft and how to get rescued,” says Borschberg. 

9 To achieve all that, Piccard and Borschberg have spent countless days and nights inside flight simulators over the last few years. But while technical training is crucial, Piccard says preparing yourself mentally is as important. “You have to be ready in your head to really visualize all the solutions,” says Piccard. “Otherwise it’s very, very difficult.” 

10 If there’s someone who knows about difficult, if not impossible, undertakings, then that’s Piccard, a third-generation adventurer. His grandfather was the first man to make it to the stratosphere in a balloon while his father was the first to reach the deepest point of the Earth’s oceans, the Mariana Trench at nearly 11,000 meters. 

11 Following in their footsteps, Piccard developed a passion for aviation early on. 

12 In March 1999, he completed the first nonstop round-the-world balloon flight with Brian Jones from the UK, while four years later he joined forces with Borschberg, an aviator, entrepreneur and mechanical engineer, to embark on their lofty mission to build a solar aircraft that could circle the world with no polluting emissions. 

13 “In my family tradition there has always been the scientific exploration and the protection of the environment — so this is what drives me,” says 56-year-old Piccard, who is also a doctor, psychiatrist, and a father of three. “(To) have an interesting and exciting life but also have a useful life for others,” he adds. 

14 Indeed, more than just setting new records, it’s this desire to chart a sustainable path for future generations that seems to motivate the Solar Impulse founders. 

15 Following last week’s unveiling, Piccard and Borschberg are now set to begin test flights in mid-May before embarking on their 35,000-kilometer journey in March 2015. Starting from the Gulf region in the Middle East, the two pilots will then fly over India, Myanmar and China, cross the Pacific, the United States and the Atlantic with the aim of returning to their departure point. 

会见能“永远飞行”的太阳能飞机驾驶员

蒂奥·克米利奥提斯

1他俩合起来的履历看上去令所有真正的飞行冒险家都羡慕不已：率先驾驶超轻型飞机？做过。创下乘气球不间断环游全球的世界纪录？干过。在只用太阳能作动力的飞机上操纵首次二十四小时连续飞行？没错，你猜对了。

2现在，经过十二年复杂的设计和高强度训练，航空先行者贝特朗·皮卡特和安德烈·波切伯格将要征服新的高度，接受第一次用太阳能完成环球飞行的挑战。

3这一对瑞士人上周为“太阳驱动”2号飞机揭幕，它是一架革命性的飞机，其设计旨在完成航空史上单人驾驶飞行时间最长的航行。它将尝试不间断地飞行120小时（是的，连续五天五夜），跨洲越洋，不用一滴油。

4“太阳驱动”2号飞机用碳纤维制成，是太阳能飞机原型的改进型号。原型曾在近年内打破若干航空纪录，包括在2010年第一次完全用太阳能通宵飞行连续26小时。

5升级的太阳能飞机有宽达72米的巨大翼幅，比标准的波音747飞机的翼幅还宽，但重量仅2,300千克，与一辆家用轿车差不多重。它的两翼覆盖了一层由17,000个太阳能电池组成的薄板，这些电池向四台电动机提供可再生能源，而为它定制的锂电池在白天能储存足够的太阳能，使这架超轻的飞机在晚间继续飞行。

6“我们现在的这架飞机是世界第一架具有无限耐力的飞机，”62岁的波切伯格说。他是三个孩子的父亲，也是2010年的破纪录飞行中坐在驾驶舱中完成飞行的人。“它能飞行一昼夜，一星期，也能飞行一个月——理论上它能飞行一年，”他又说。“它是有史以来人们制造的能效最高的飞机。”

7飞机的驾驶舱很小，大约只有2013版的迷你库柏轿车内部容量的一倍半，机舱里每个细节都经过精心设计，以求获得最大能效并保证驾驶员能在里面生活数天。整个驾驶舱用一层高密度的泡沫材料包住，以保护驾驶员在没有取暖和空调设备的情况下，免受从-40°C的酷寒到+40°C的高温的煎熬。舱内有足够的空间存放食品、水和氧气供应，而一个多功能的座椅，装有一个降落伞和救生艇，能当坐便器使用。这个座椅还能后倾，使机长能做做肢体运动以保持血液循环，还可小睡一会儿——但是每次最多只能睡20分钟。

8“你必须知道如何休息，如何进食，什么时候去上厕所，以及如何保持身体正常运转。当然，我们也作了最坏的准备——如何在必要时跳出去，如何靠一艘小救生艇在海洋上生存，如何获得救援，”波切伯格说。

9为做到以上一切，在以往的几年中，皮卡特和波切伯格在飞行模拟器里度过了无数个日日夜夜。但是，虽然技术训练至关重要，皮卡特说心理准备也同样重要。“你必须有思想准备，真正能设想出所有的解决方案，”皮卡特说。“否则就非常非常难了。”

10如果说有人领教过几乎无法完成的困难任务的话，那就是皮卡特，他是家族中第三代冒险家。他的祖父是乘气球到达同温层的第一人，他父亲是到达地球海洋中的最深处、深近11,000米的马里亚纳海沟的第一人。

11皮卡特继承了祖辈的传统，早年便开始热衷于飞行。

121999年3月，他与英国人布莱恩·琼斯完成了第一次不间断的气球环球飞行。四年后他与飞行家、企业家、机械工程师波切伯格联手，开始了他们崇高的使命，建造一架可以环球飞行而不排放污染物的太阳能飞机。

13“我的家庭传统中既有科学探索也注重环境保护，这就是我的驱动力，”56岁的皮卡特说。皮卡特还是医生，精神病学家，三个孩子的父亲。“生活要有乐趣，要有刺激，但也要对他人有用，”他补充说。

14确实，太阳能驱动飞机首创者的动力，不仅仅是为创造新纪录，更多是为后人绘制一条可持续道路的愿望。

15上星期揭幕后，皮卡特和波切伯格两人现计划在五月中旬开始试飞，然后在2015年3月进行35,000公里的飞行。两位飞行员将从中东的海湾地区开始，然后飞过印度、缅甸和中国，穿越太平洋、美国和大西洋，最终目标是回到他们的出发点。