Solar Plane Pilot Marvels at 'Gorgeous' Views of Bay Area

Inside an enormous concave hangar built in the 1930s to house dirigibles at Moffett Field Wednesday, two Swiss pilots stood by the solar-powered plane one of them flew Tuesday over the Bay Area.

"It was so gorgeous with the city just on the water," said Bertrand Piccard, who piloted the four-engine, super-light plane during the 15-hour flight. "The bay is alive. It's a beautiful region."

"It is very symbolic," said Andre Borschberg, pilot and co-founder of Switzerland-based Solar Impulse. "It is the heart of the world technology, and Moffett Field has attracted the tech companies from the beginning."

During the flight that stretched west into the Pacific Ocean toward the Farallon Islands, Piccard, 55, controlled the model HB-SIA plane while Borschberg, 60, followed as a passenger in a helicopter to take photos and videos of the flight.

Both men have traded piloting the plane, and each has their own taste in food while on board, with Borschberg favoring sweets and Piccard sandwiches.

"I put out the bread, I take out the pâté," Piccard said. "I have a Swiss army knife to spread the pâté."

Borschberg marveled at how the Bay Area's air traffic controllers kept the air clear in a sky crowded with aircraft for the solar plane, which runs at a top speed of only 47 mph.

"They were so helpful and so flexible," Borschberg said. "It's not easy for an aircraft like this to be in the air traffic."

"All of this was managed like an orchestra," Piccard said. "They were so cooperative."

The single-seat plane, with a wingspan the size of a jumbo jet at 208 feet, is powered by 12,000 solar cells that send electricity into lithium polymer batteries that run four 10-horsepower engines.

A key aspect of the craft is its low weight, which at 3,500 pounds is about that of an average automobile thanks mainly to a building material known as carbon fiber, a substance as light as balsa wood.

With its solar panels taking in sunlight during the day and electricity stored in its batteries, the plane is capable of continuous flight and only lands because the pilot needs rest, Solar Impulse spokeswoman Alenka Zibetto said.

But the plane's engines are quite vulnerable and can break down due to wind, rain, fog and clouds and so must fly only in clear weather, requiring constant forecasting prior to takeoffs, Zibetto said.

To get to Moffett Field this spring, the model HB-SIA plane was taken apart in Switzerland, flown by jet overseas and reassembled in the hangar in about five days, Solar Impulse spokeswoman Alenka Zibetto said.

Piccard lifted off from Moffett at about 7 a.m., taking advantage of the sunny and calm conditions over the Bay Area.

He landed at about 10:30 p.m., after flying in darkness with electricity stored in the batteries, Zibetto said.

The plane evolved from a feasibility study at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 2003 to a working model in 2010 and then a flight from Europe to Africa and back last year, Zibetto said

Both men dreamed of flying the plane next over the Golden Gate Bridge to begin a voyage across the United States ending in New York, a feat they plan to start on about May 1 and end in mid-July after stops in Phoenix, Dallas and Atlanta.

"Eight months ago we decided we had to do the Golden Gate and Statute of Liberty (in New York), to fly from one to the other," Piccard said.

Piccard, trained as a doctor and psychiatrist, is known for co-piloting the Breitling Orbiter 3 that in 1999 became the first gas-powered balloon to fly across the world, a flight he recalled in his book that year, "Around the World in 20 Days."

"After the balloon flight, I was very limited on fuel," Piccard said. "I started with 3,700 kilograms of liquid gas and ended with 40 kilograms, so very tight."

"That's how I had the vision of continuous flight, of flight without fuel," he said.

He met Borschberg, an engineer and former Swiss military pilot, during the 2003 feasibility study for a "zero-fuel plane" and the men soon created Solar Impulse, based in Switzerland.

The next goal for the pilots is to fly a different, improved model
solar plane, the HB-SIB—now being developed in their company home in
Switzerland—around the world in 2015.

Since it will take five days to cross the Pacific Ocean, and three days to pass over the Atlantic, the new plane will have a toilet installed, Borschberg said.

The whole idea of the $147 million project, funded by partners including Beyer and Deutsche Bank, is not commercial production of planes but to discover and promote advances in renewable energy, such as continuous flight, Piccard said.

Along the way, to solve problems such as weight and temperature controls, plane builder Solar Impulse has discovered energy-saving features that have applications for cars, appliances and home insulation, Piccard said.

Solar Impulse, Piccard said, is looking for a car company as a partner so that after landing the solar plane, one of its lithium batteries could be placed into the car and the pilots could "drive back to the hotel, and then drive back in the morning."

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