Thursday, December 18, 2025
ADVT 
National

Good Weather And Some Luck Could Bring A Record-Shattering Solar Impulse 2 Aircraft To Vancouver

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Apr, 2016 01:12 PM
    Vancouver is one of four locations being considered as the North American West Coast destination for a history-making flight.
     
    Scientists and pilots linked to the round-the-world flight of a solar-powered airplane are expected to decide the destination in the next month as they await a favourable weather window.
     
    West Coast destinations, including Phoenix, the San Francisco area and Los Angeles, have been selected to allow maximum flexibility for route planning and weather conditions.
     
    The Solar Impulse 2 is able to fly day and night without fuel and has completed one jump across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Hawaii on its way across North America and Europe to Abu Dhabi.
     
     
    But a news release from the programs co-founders says the 117-hour, 52-minute non-stop 8,900-kilometre flight last July overheated the batteries and the plane has been grounded in Hawaii since then, completing repairs and test flights.
     
    The single-seat, carbon fibre Solar Impulse 2 weighs little more than a small car and has more than 17,000 solar cells built into its nearly 72-metre wingspan, providing renewable energy for four electric engines.
     
    "An airplane with perpetual flight endurance, without fuel, like the Solar Impulse, is not only a first in the history of aviation, but also in the history of energy," Bertrand Piccard, the project's chairman, said in the release.
     
    "The primary purpose of this adventure is to demonstrate that modern clean technologies can achieve the impossible and encourage everyone to use these same energy efficient solutions on the ground in their daily lives for mobility, construction, lighting, heating, cooling and more."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Canadian Woman Celebrating 107th Birthday Says Key To Long Life Is Being Good To Others

    Canadian Woman Celebrating 107th Birthday Says Key To Long Life Is Being Good To Others
    Brown celebrated her 107th birthday today in Truro, N.S., and said the key to a long and happy life is being good to others

    Canadian Woman Celebrating 107th Birthday Says Key To Long Life Is Being Good To Others

    Vancouver Pot Activist Dana Larsen Charged After Seed Give-away Rally In Calgary

    Vancouver Pot Activist Dana Larsen Charged After Seed Give-away Rally In Calgary
    Dana Larsen was in the city on Wednesday with his “Overgrow Canada” campaign in which he aims to hand out one million pot seeds to be planted in public places.

    Vancouver Pot Activist Dana Larsen Charged After Seed Give-away Rally In Calgary

    When Carrots Equal Karats: New Study Says B.C. Home Costs Threaten Food Security

    When Carrots Equal Karats: New Study Says B.C. Home Costs Threaten Food Security
    VANCOUVER — A report from Vancity credit union says double-digit leaps in home prices across the Vancouver region could force farmers off the land and threaten local food security.

    When Carrots Equal Karats: New Study Says B.C. Home Costs Threaten Food Security

    British Columbia Tech Firm Guards Virtual Worlds From Cyberbullies

    British Columbia Tech Firm Guards Virtual Worlds From Cyberbullies
    Community Sift, based in Kelowna, has built digital armour for social media and gaming companies trying to protect their virtual worlds. 

    British Columbia Tech Firm Guards Virtual Worlds From Cyberbullies

    B.C. Premier Announces $470-million Turbine Contract For Site C Dam

    Clark was joined by Energy Minister Bill Bennett, BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald and industry and labour leaders to announce the contract on Wednesday.

    B.C. Premier Announces $470-million Turbine Contract For Site C Dam

    BC Corrections Criticized Over Jail Fire That Wounded 19 Of Its Officers

    BC Corrections Criticized Over Jail Fire That Wounded 19 Of Its Officers
    VANCOUVER — A workers compensation inspector found serious health and safety violations at a Fraser Valley jail after a fire wounded 19 corrections officers in January.

    BC Corrections Criticized Over Jail Fire That Wounded 19 Of Its Officers