Technically, that is correct, if considering the wingspan. However, the reality of this airplane has nothing to do with the mental image people conceive when they read "Jumbo Jet size." Journalists love hyperboles.

The aircraft is clearly not jumbo jet sized, but I think what the journalist was trying (and failing) to convey is that the WINGSPAN is jumbo jet sized. As you can see in the last pic those wings are definitely approaching 747 size.

You'd need those long wings on this thing for both the lift such wings provide and the sheer area for capturing solar rays.

For the avionically illiterate the word "jumbo" does not refer to the dimensional size of the aircraft, rather it refers to the weight of the aircraft. This is definitely not a jumbo aircraft.

Call me what you want Frenchie, but there's no 700,000 pounds there, not 300,000, likely not 15,000.

So does another plane fly over it with 50,000 flash lights trained on it so it can fly at night?

Still, it is a very impressive achievement and a very cool looking plane.

Some people will complain about anything.

Agreed, merckx. No, it's no 747, but if it goes the distance, it's still a jumbo-sized accomplishment.

Let me interject my complaint that the kids at AP don't know that transcontinental and intercontinental are not interchangeable words.

Remember they called the B-17 a giant airplane or a FLYING FORTRESS. By today's standards the physical size of the B-17 wasn't much more than a cheap commercial/private jet. But it was the GRANDFATHER to a lot of new ideas I am sure that this JUMBO SOLAR powered plane will introduce lots of new ideas as well. My one question is what altitude will it cruse at and does it have oxygen for the pilot or does it have to stay around 18,000 feet max? Still all in all it is a GREAT achievement and a step closer to no petroleum fuel needed. GREAT JOB.

Forget commercial air travel with solar BUT think of solar spy drones.

workingpoor - yes, i completely forgot about that....nothing like building for security...like healthcare you get blank cheques (please fill in the amount you would like lol)

@illinois man

@ Illinois Man ...........Understand what you read first before you "interject".... transcontinental in the first leg because he's going from Switzerland to Madrid Spain... then he's flying intercontinental from Madrid Spain to Rabat in Morocco... I'm just saying.....

Don't forget Jean Luc Picard. The greatest Picard of them all!!!

And his idiot relative, "Nose" Picard.

Or his poisoning proctological cousin, Arse Nick Picard

or the gambling cousin. Pica-card any card

LOL

A giant, super light, slow moving, solar airplane to be used in a military as a: ?

Maybe some day drones will have solar panels on them... but... this thing is far from practical for the military.

Think high-altitude surveillance that can stay aloft for weeks at a time...

......wow

Very cool. And, hopefully in a decade or sooner we will look back on these pictures and wonder how something so archaic-looking could fly using only solar power.

OOPs! I meant SUN shine for you!

Yea; clouds can ruin a solar powered planes whole day!

Is the plane totally solar powered? Does it have no backup power at all in the form of batteries or anything?

I wonder if the flight plan takes them above the clouds?

Mickey,

Thr aircraft does have batteries which are charged by the solar panels. That's the only way it can continue flying overnight.

Thanks, SingBiker!

With the long wing span, it looks like he will get enough lift at that speed to stay up. Almost like a glider.

You might. I was thinking that an airship with the entire upper surface coated with super thin photovoltaic material (as now exists) would be an interesting design possibility. Still would be slow but it could reach some interesting speeds if you can bring it high enough to catch fast high altitude winds.

@ Phil, neat idea, thin film is some cool stuff! I've seen some PV/solar collectors that are shaped as shingles and can be used to replace traditional Spanish tile shingles too. Although the thin film solar tech need to get a lot more efficient first. Right now, they're only about half as efficient as the mono or poly silicon panels they use in residential and commercial applications, so you'd need A LOT of thin film sheets today. Thin film efficiency is improving, unfortunately for us though, the lions share of the R&D today is being done in China...we've got some catching up to do here in the states on the PV/solar technology side.

Major Mike,

"43.5 miles per hour? IT's cool in concept, but that is awfully slow for an aircraft."

That's what they told the Wright brothers, but it doesn't seem to have stopped them! Those American fools! :)

I believe you're right but going to England, they couldn't call it intercontinental :-)

So you want us to belive that the sun shines in England?

I loved the comment about the parachute....! Made me pucker a bit.

That's why they started the flight in France. If they had tried to start from the UK, they wouldn't of had enough solar power to get in the air. Bummer really. I'll take a good pint, and some fish with malt vinegar any day!

I believe the author would correctly use the term "jumbo jet" to describe a 747 or A380.

In regards to wingspan, the comparison of the Solar Impulse to a jumbo jet is, actually, quite appropriate. The wingspan of the Solar Impulse is 208 feet; the wingspan of a 747 varies from 195 feet for the 100B, 200B and 300 models to 224 feet for the 747-8I.

Sure Bill, but not specifying he was referring to wing span is pretty misleading. Of course the pictures help to clarify, but it's guaranteed this story will be picked up by the wire and someone will publish it without the pictures.

Yes, it could fly all night long if it confined its flight area to either of the polar regions.

No, the sunlight at the polar regions is much weaker as the light travels through so much atmoshpere to get there.

Only if it's charging some batteries during the day...

Hrm someone stuck in the past. it is not that we dont have the technology to rid ourselves of oil, it is simply that the government cannot make as much money (currently) off anything else. Solar power is completly feesible so long as storage capabilities are enough. We have managed to downsize and upgrade every single piece of computer technology and have made batteries last longer than ever before and they are smaller now. I have a few friends running 50-80% from hydrogen in their project cars crudely made by mix of baking soda water and a charge. If a diy can make it run 50% hydrogen why cant a scientist with the latest capabilites make one run 100%. Its likely already been done but what can the government do to make money in that scenerio? raise the price of baking soda? no they want to make pointless hydrogen refill stations so we have to pay taxes for it. carburators were designed many many many years ago that could get 100 mpg on a 4 cyl engine with minimal power loss. VW (german) have been and still make cars that get 60 plus mpg on normal fuel yet america still struggles to get past 35 mpg?????i call BS. your blinded by the smokescreen theyve laid before you. wake up and see.

Actually there is we just have not discovered how to create it in enough quantities or utilize it effectively. There are really three that fit this description:

1. Solar

We have not reached the peak efficiency of the technology yet nor the peak miniaturization. In 40 to 50 years a solar panel the size of a keyboard key (likely smaller) will probably be able to produce the same energy that all of the solar cells within a solar panel, or if we are lucky the same energy that is outputted from the panels on this plane, does. Solar is a true renewable resource in that once the panels are made there is no cost nor materials required to generate energy from the sun.

Once we find ways to shrink the technology down and greatly improve conversion efficiency the solar industry is going to flourish.

2. Wind

While wind is a bit more tricky when used in the right places it can be just as productive as solar energy is right now. There is not really much we can do at present to increase the amount of power a mill creates, I think we have maxed out the design potentials at this point and it will require some kind of future tech to progress further with them but that it will eventually happen.

Wind would still be less productive them solar when looking at 24/7 chart since wind is not always strong enough to move the turbine.

3. Antimatter

This is the one I was referring to especially with my first comment. Once we harness how to effectively create and use antimatter as a power source, combined with other renewable technologies, oil is going to be dropped entirely, if it still exists and I highly doubt that it will. Gram for gram antimatter produces thousands of times more energy then oil does. It takes something like several millions barrels, if not more, to power a city for a day. A single gram of antimatter can power a large city for several weeks.

By the time we can use it wars will likely be a thing of the past though, the technology is at least 70 years out and by that time we will have a one world Government.

Actually both of you are ignoring some basic laws of entropy, that is you can't get out more than you put in. For example how much energy goes into the production of baking soda.

How much actual energy arrives at the Earth's surface from solar (allowing for diffusion due to particulates, angle of incidence, etc.). Answer: not much.

Even if you could increase solar voltaic conversion efficiency to 100% (hint- impossible) and even still you'd have to pave over all of Arizona to supply Phoenix with it's air conditioning needs.

Solar is a energy supplement, not a primary source, unless you put collectors into space and beam the energy back down. But that requires an active space program and I don't want to get ripped for introducing politics into the discussion.

I'm not even going to comment on the anti-matter thing.

We would be better off if we put the money into Tesla's project of sending energy thru the air. Then the power could go to just about anything- in the air or on the ground. Its simply amazing how we search for alternatives and ignore the wonderful things people like Tesla or Nathan Stubblefield accomplished a hundred years ago. Stubblefield obtained energy directly from the earth's current, bypassing the need of paying for electricity for power. Wonderful stuff!

Truth is, we have a Patent Office chock full of great ideas and inventions regarding energy that have been suppressed by various entities for profit or other reasons. I don't understand why many people haven't referred to this excellent resource seeing that many patents have expired.

How many countries is that exactly? We still use hydrocarbon based fuels because of 1) efficiency 2) the number of people whose jobs are affected by oil. Even if we found a new fuel today, we wouldn't be able to convert to the new within a decade. Because of how our economy would be affected.

Stu it is possible the build buildings that are entirely powered by solar that can actually give energy back to the grid. If we build a city with all buildings using this type of solar technology there would be enough energy to power it without needing to buy fossil fuels. Obviously there would still be some petroleum based products used and the need for batteries to store the excess power but there are plenty examples of zero-energy homes.

Yeah, that's funny...</sarcasm>

You Sir, are Awesome. Thank you.

You...do realize that with no jet fuel the explosion from the underwear bomb won't be as spectacular??

Economy? What did it cost to build this ship?

Seems like tech colleges (MIT and others) and students design things like this pretty often (planes, cars, blimps, etc.), but not on this scale and not for that long of a flight..

Johnny, I think you are remembering the bicycle-powered airplane. It featured a man on a "stationary" bike inside a clear plastic film clad plane. If I'm not mistaken one flew the English Channel. Those did look like a ton of fun.

Chudd...could we judge the "length of flight" AFTER the flight is over?

Obviously I'm going by the PROPOSED duration and distance of the flight....not sure what point you tried to make, or what you felt you needed to correct in my statement??

Itinerary: Leave Switzerland. Fly to Morocco (WTF) Pick up muslim with solar powered underwear bomb.

Boom!

Oh, and Rosie...as long as the 1% is paying for the lifestyles of 70% of the 99 % by paying 86% of the total taxes.....Shutup.

@ Steve...your ignorance is truly astounding. I'm an engineer, so I had an interest in the article and have experience with solar technology on my home. What life do you have that this is the kind of thing you spend time doing? Commenting on technology stories that you obviously have no ability to understand, while making ignorant bigoted, racist comments? Way to go, I'm sure your proud of yourself...

You are the definition of internet troll.....just not as bright as most others...