The Night the Magic Bird Came to Town.
southwest of the great sleeping city that never really sleeps. Slowly, ever so slowly, it moved closer.
Sensing its waiting audience, the bird opened 14 of its bright eyes, spreading its shape into a thin flat line of tiny stars as it approached from the heartland and neared the Jersey shore. Wider and wider its wings grew, until it revealed a breadth unmatched by even the world's largest Boeing 747.
Then, with great dignity and grace, it banked gently to the left, beginning a wide, slow, circle around the point where millions of immigrants first set foot in the USA: Ellis Island and the Statue Of Liberty.
Tonight, residents, tourists, natives and visitors have gathered at this point at 2 o'clock in the morning to see a once in a lifetime event – history being made in the progress of humanity and its technology in the quest to save itself, from itself. The world's first solar airplane to attempt to circumnavigate the earth on only solar power. Its name is the Solar Impulse-2. It is a look into our future.
Now the people could see it more clearly against the night sky. But it flew in utter silence. Even the calm wind and the hush of the crowd could not reveal the noise of the magic bird, less than 1,500' above them. Experts had claimed that the concept was impossible; that it was too big, too light, too flimsy to stay aloft. This magic bird knew better. Wide wings of high tech carbon fiber carried the total weight of less than a family SUV at a maximum speed of 56 mph, but tonight it flew at its incredibly slow economy speed of only 30 mph. Its precious cargo: a single pilot. But more than that. A symbol; a message to the world. That renewable energy is the future of the world and that dreams of pioneers can be accomplished with dedication and teamwork.
For this aircraft is unique. It is circling the world without using a single drop of conventional fuel. Its fuel comes directly from the sun itself. Captured during daylight by 17,248 solar cells, and stored for nighttime use in batteries, this plane flies both day and night, non-stop for distances limited only by oxygen and food supplies for its pilot. Its flight from Japan to Hawaii took nearly 118 hours, almost five full days and nights in the air.
Those solar cells were supplied by SunPower, the same X-series cells you can buy for your house and have installed by your local dealer. But without the weight of normal framesand tempered glass.
The cells wereconformed to the curved upper wing surfaces and clear- coated with a protective transparent resin from Solvay.
Only SunPower cells could withstand the flexing and mechanical strain of this construction and actual flights.
With industry-best 22.7% efficiency, the SunPower cells produce up to 66 kW of electricity, enoughto power an average of ten homes. Or in this case, four 17.4 hp motors, avionics, and a bunch of really cool lights.
Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg take turns flying segments around the world. Andre (right), engineer and entrepreneur, is at the controls over New York City this night. Bertrand (left), heir to the legendary pioneers, grandfather Auguste Piccard (the stratosphere) and father Jacques Piccard (the ocean depths), conceived the project and will pilot the next segment across the Atlantic to Europe. Theirs is a vision and a dramatic demonstration that the world can find ways to consume less of its limited resources, that each of us in our own lives can use solar power to provide much of the energy we use, and that dreams can be achieved.
So please pass this story along to your sons and daughters, about a night when the magic bird came to town, that they might find vision and purpose and dreams of their own which they can turn into reality and make a better world for themselves. It can be done. The proof is right here.