April 15 2015

Décision prepares the future with NTPT

Having been a pioneer in the use of NTPT complexes in the construction of the Solar Impulse 2 plane, Décision, along with academic and industrial partners has committed to develop solutions to qualify “Thin Ply” prepregs for aeronautical use.

This two year study is partly financed by the Swiss Confederations Commission for Technology & Innovation (CTI).

More detail

Publication: JEC / Composite world

March 9 2015

Solar Impulse Round-The-World Solar Flight Start

Swiss explorers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg launch their attempt at flying Round-The-World in a solar-powered airplane. Their experimental aircraft, Solar Impulse 2 took-off this morning from Abu Dhabi.

Leg #1: Abu Dhabi (UAE) - Muscat (Oman)

Abu Dhabi, UAE – March 9, 2015: Under intense and watchful eyes, the Solar Impulse team in Abu Dhabi along with the Mission Control Center (MCC) in Monaco, witnessed Solar Impulse take-off this morning to reach Muscat (Oman), before crossing the Arabian Sea to Ahmedabad (India).

André Borschberg flew Si2 at 7:12 (GMT +4) on Monday, performing the first stage of the Round-The-World Flight using zero fuel. Piccard will take the reins in Oman and continue onward to Ahmedabad (India). Co-pilots Piccard and Borschberg will take turns flying the single-seater experimental solar aircraft which is able to fly with perpetual endurance.

It has taken twelve years for Bertrand Piccard (initiator and chairman) and André Borschberg (founder and CEO), to be able to finally attempt to make their dream a reality - demonstrating the importance of renewable energy conceived through a pioneering spirit and innovation.

Capable of flying over oceans for several days and nights in a row, Solar Impulse will travel 35,000 kilometers around the world in 25 days over the course of roughly 5 months. Si2 will pass over the Arabian Sea, India, Myanmar, China and the Pacific Ocean. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the final legs include a stop-over in Southern Europe or North Africa before completing the Round-The-World flight at its final destination in Abu Dhabi, Solar Impulse's official host city. During the 12 scheduled stops, the Solar Impulse team and its partners will organize public events for governments, schools and universities.

"We are very ambitious in our goal, but modest given the magnitude of the challenge. This is an attempt, and only time will tell if we can overcome the numerous weather, technical, human and administrative issues", said Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg.

Source: Solar Impulse

September 3 2014

Hydros.ch establishes a sailing record on lake Zürich

Hydros.ch sailed from Zurich to Rapperswil and back in less than 2 hours 25 minutes establishing a time reference for the record.

Taking advantage of good wind conditions, Hydros.ch, the record-breaking flying catamaran, set a time reference of 2 hours 25 minutes for the newly established challenge called the Blue Ribbon. The Blue Ribbon was recently opened by the Zürcher Yacht Club for competitors to sail the roundtrip Zürich–Rapperswil–Zürich of 30 Nautical miles (56 km) in the shortest time.
The catamaran left Zürich at 6 pm tuesday afternoon, in a nice breeze of 7 to 12 knots, sailing on his foils along the narrow lake, with peak speeds of more than 25 knots. Hydros.ch made quite a strong impression on the water, sailing more than twice the windspeed.
The crew was composed of Daniel Schmäh (skipper), Gaël Ledoux, Guillaume Coyon and Guillaume Sangiardi.

Sailing faster than the wind

Hydros.ch has made a reputation on Lake Geneva, being the fastest sailing boat in Switzerland. The flying catamaran also holds the three records of the Lake Geneva: the Blue Ribbon, the hour (the fastest average speed during an hour) and the kilometer (the fastest average speed on a single kilometer) speed records.
The record was established on the occasion of the venue of Hydros.ch to Zurich to celebrate the 25th birthday of Lombard Odier Zürich's Office, Lombard Odier being the main sponsor of Hydros.since the very beginning.
The flying catamaran is to stay until the end of September in the Zürcher Yacht Club, before heading back to Lake Geneva for the winter.

June 2 2014

A successful first fight for Solar Impulse 2

Solar Impulse 2, the solar aircraft of Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, today carried out its first flight out of the Payerne aerodrome in Switzerland.

The revolutionary single-seater aircraft, with which Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are attempting to carry out the first solar-powered flight around the world in 2015, has successfully completed its maiden flight this morning in Payerne (watch the video here). For 2 hours and 17 minutes, professional test pilot Marcus Scherdel was able to trial the aircraft’s performance in the skies. The initial results are in line with calculations and simulations. There will be several other flights taking place in the coming months in order for this experimental machine to attain certification.

“This inaugural flight is an important stage - a step closer towards the round-the-world flight. It is also a huge emotional step for the entire team and all our partners who have worked on the aircraft. Si2 incorporates a vast amount of new technology to render it more efficient, reliable and in particular better adapted to long haul flights. It is the first aircraft which will have almost unlimited endurance,” highlighted André Borschberg, Solar Impulse Co-founder, CEO and pilot.

“Throughout such an innovative project, each stage is a leap into the unknown. Today suspense was at a high! The results show that our team of engineers can be very proud of the work it has accomplished during the last 10 years,” added Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse Founder, President and pilot.

Source: Solar Impulse

May 5 2014

The Hydros.ch hydrofoil boat smashes the Blue Ribbon record in 4½ hours

On the Geneva course (Port Noir) - Le Bouveret - Geneva, Hydros.ch smashed it previous record setting a historic time, a faster time is hardly imaginable.

The hydrofoil catamaran Hydros.ch skippered by Daniel Schmäh smashed its own record on Saturday morning, 3rd May 2014, covering the nominal distance of 66.5 nautical miles (123 kilometers) between le Port Noir and Le Bouveret and back in 4 hours 30 minutes. It is an historic performance. It improves on the previous Blue Ribbon record by 15 minutes, following on the 8 minutes shaved off the existing record on 20th August 2013 that had been set by Philippe Cardis in Décision 35 in 2007. This exceptional performance, an improvement of more than 10% in comparison to that of Décision 35, is in no small part due to the hydrofoils with which Hydros.ch is equipped.

Setting off at 9h33 am, the Hydros.ch reached Le Bouveret at 12h18 pm, after 2h45 of determined sailing against a head wind, to cover the return distance to le Port Noir in a record time of only 1h30. This performance is subject to official approval by the CVSNG (Yacht Club of the Société Nautique de Genève).

Three of the most prestigious records on Lake Geneva are held by hydrofoils, the Blue Ribbon (Geneva-Le Bouveret-Geneva): 4 hours 30 minutes, the Kilometer Record: 31.4 knots and the Hour Record: 25.63 knots.

"Benefitting from magnificent wind conditions, we were able to easily navigate certain trickier passages with a weaker wind, especially from the Evian shore, to make a very fast return run in the Petit Lac, tacking only 4 times," said Daniel Schmäh, the skipper of the Hydros.ch. The Hydros.ch, with its high performance hydrofoils is a genuine high-tech platform, which has again
today showed that the innovative hydrofoil boat concept here to stay and it will revolutionize the world of sailing."

Source: Hydros

April 9 2014

Solar Impulse 2: the round-the-world aircraft is completed

Today, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg launched Solar Impulse 2, their new single-seater solar aircraft designed to take up the challenge of the first round-the-world solar flight, without any fuel in 2015.

Solar Impulse is the product of an alliance between two men to fulfill a project deemed impossible by industry experts. While Bertrand Piccard, a psychiatrist and explorer, sourced partners to finance the project and promoted the cause for clean technologies (subsequently endorsed by many political authorities), engineer and entrepreneur André Borschberg brought together and led a technical team of 80. It has taken 12 years of calculations, simulations, construction and testing to arrive at today's launch of Solar Impulse 2 – the most revolutionary aircraft of out of time, set to fly around the world.

"A vision counts for nothing unless it is backed up by action. With 8 world records for Solar Impulse 1, the first solar aircraft capable of flying during the night, crossing two continents and flying over the United States, we have shown that clean technologies and renewable energies can accomplish the impossible," said a delighted Bertrand Piccard, founder and Chairman of Solar Impulse.

"Now we need to go even further," added André Borschberg, co-founder and CEO. "Solar Impulse 2 will have virtually unlimited autonomy, and now we need to make sure the pilot is as sustainable as his aircraft. This is why the round-the-world flight will be as much a human as a technological feat."

To complete the round-the-world flight, Solar Impulse 2 will have to accomplish what no other aircraft has achieved before: flying without fuel with only one pilot for 5 consecutive days and nights over oceans from one continent to another. This is the challenge for which the aircraft has been built. The single-seater solar aircraft has a huge wingspan of 72 meters (236 ft) for its weight of just 2,300 Kg (5'000 lbs.), producing an aerodynamic performance and energy efficiency greater than anything to date. There is a 3.8 m3 cockpit, every detail of which has been designed for a pilot to live there for a week. However, for the sake of maximum energy efficiency, the cabin is not pressurized or heated – a further endurance challenge for the pilot.

Test flights are due to take place in May, followed by training flights over Switzerland.

The attempt to make the first round-the-world solar-powered flight is scheduled to start in March 2015 from Gulf area. Solar Impulse will fly, in order, over the Arabian Sea, India, Burma, China, the Pacific Ocean, the United States, the Atlantic Ocean and Southern Europe or North Africa before closing the loop by returning to the departure point. Landings will be made every few days to change pilots and organize public events for governments, schools and universities.

Source: Solar Impulse