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Swiss team unveils prototype for sun-powered plane
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.jpg "Bertrand Piccard, Andre Borschberg, Prince Albert of Monaco")
.jpg "SWITZERLAND SOLAR ADVENTURE")
.jpg "Bertrand Piccard, Andre Borschberg, Prince Albert of Monaco")
Adventurer Bertrand Piccard on Friday unveiled the Solar Impulse, which, with its sleek white wings and pink trimming, aims to make history as the prototype for a solar-powered flight around the world.
"Yesterday it was a dream, today it is an airplane, tomorrow it will be an ambassador of renewable energies," said Piccard, who in 1999 copiloted the first round-the-globe nonstop balloon flight.
The plane will take part in a series of test flights over the next two years, and based on the results of those a new plane will be constructed for the big takeoff, in 2012.
In a swank ceremony at a military airfield near Zurich, Piccard and co-pilot Andre Borschberg hugged as the curtain was pulled across to give the public its first glimpse of the plane. Numerous dignitaries were in attendance, including Prince Albert of Monaco and major sponsors.
The budget for the project is euro70 million ($98 million), Piccard said.
He and Borschberg said the plane will fly day and night using almost 12,000 solar cells, rechargeable lithium batteries and four electric motors. It will not use an ounce of fuel.
But the maiden flight around the planet will take time.
With the engines providing only 40 horsepower, the plane will fly almost like a scooter in the sky. It will take off at the pedestrian pace of 22 mph, accelerating at altitude to an average flight speed of 44 mph.
Unlike the nonstop balloon trip, the solar flight will have to make stops to allow for pilots to switch over and stretch after long periods in the cramped cockpit.
"You can see it's really small," Borschberg said. "Thirty-six hours is already a challenge. It tests your patience."
The plane's circumnavigation will be split up into five stages, with the stopovers also allowing the team to show off the plane. Borschberg said the stages in the air will last up to five days.
A nonstop round-the-world flight will have to wait until batteries can be made lighter so more pilot comfort can be added to the plane.
The first test flights will be later this year, with a complete night voyage planned for 2010.
"It will be like the Wright brothers," said the 51-year-old Piccard, who comes from a long line of adventurers. His late father Jacques plunged deeper beneath the ocean than any other man, and grandfather Auguste was the first man to take a balloon into the stratosphere.
"We will start one yard above the ground, then three meters, then five meters," he said. "When that works, we'll be able to take it to altitude."
One thing a solar plane cannot handle is bad weather. Because the solar panels are needed for day flying and for charging the 400-kilogram lithium batteries that power the plane by night, it relies on sunshine.
"We'll certainly avoid stormy situations," Borschberg said. "We'll avoid rain as well, because you cannot collect energy in this weather. So the challenge for the team will be to find a path that is favorable. We've been training for five years."
Piccard says the plane should also serve as an inspiration for inventors and manufacturers of everyday machines and appliances.
"If an aircraft is able to fly day and night without fuel, propelled solely by solar energy," Piccard said, "let no one come and claim that it is impossible to do the same thing for motor vehicles, heating and air conditioning systems and computers."
Borschberg said the idea was first envisioned by Piccard and co-balloonist Brian Jones as they finished their 1999 flight with only 90 pounds left of an original supply of 3.7 tons of liquid propane, and realized "this historical success could have turned into a failure due to lack of fuel."
"At this moment Bertrand made the decision for his next flight around the world he wouldn't use any fuel, he would be totally independent of fossil energy," said Borschberg, an engineer and fighter pilot.
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If we rural people are used to 20 dBa what will 42 dBa sound like?
On the decibel scale, doubling the intensity corresponds to an increase of 3 dB.
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verified on "D. Corrigan: Contesting benefits of wind power"
The Hidden Factors
Woodstock Site Plan Review
Page 15 , Number 18
Noise: the proposed development shall not raise noise levels to the extent that abutting and/or nearby residents are adversely affect.
A) The maximum permissible sound pressure level of any continuous, regular or frequent or an intermittent source of sound produced by any activity shall be limited by the time period and land use which it abuts listed below. Sound levels shall be measured at 4 feet above the ground at the property boundary of the source.
Sound pressure level limits using the sound equivalent level of one hour (leq 60 measured in dB(a) scale)
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10:00pm to 7:00am residential 45 dB(a)
B) Noise shall be measured by a meter set on the A-weight response scale, fast response. The meter shall meet the American National Standards (ANSA SI-4-1961) American standard specification for general purpose sound meters.
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Bayroot, LLC owns land that is part of the Spruce Mount Wind Project, leases were giving. As soon as the Spruce mountain wind project began construction, Bayroot, LLC began removing timber between abutting properties and the wind project. If, the abutters had taken some consolation in the filtering of sound through the trees, it was made clear, it was not to be. The Logging Company came in and literally stripped the land. They paid the fines for their actions and continued to strip the 1000’s of acres around the Spruce Mountain Wind Project.
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There are over 90 abutting properties to the Spruce Mountain wind project. Most of those are seasonal residents. The figures that I am submitting to you are taken from the Woodstock Map/Lot Index dated Tuesday, January 2008. I checked with the town manager and he assured me that this was the latest, up to date version.
Concord Pond Area-
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Shagg Pond Area-
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• 3 local households considered year round residents of Woodstock
Cushman and Perkins Valley Road-
• 54 properties,
Town’s value for buildings and land, $$3,241,030.
• 29 residents considered year round residents of Woodstock.
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• properties within 1.5 miles, 196
• property values to the town- $12,064,510.00
• The number of residential property owners considered year round residents- 33
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