Look ma, I can fly. On solar power...

Human dreams of flying go way back to the roots of man kind. As soon as those first humans on our planet looked up to the sky nothing was the same any more. Nowadays, with so much pollution around us, it is always nice to hear that something is not using jet fuel to propel it self through air. If it is not a bird of course.

A UK made plane just made an unofficial endurance record for a flight by an unmanned aircraft. Zephyr-6 is the name. Apparently the plane was in the air for more than three days, running to the night on batteries and recharging through the day. It weights about 30kg and is operated by remote control until it reaches operating altitude, which is at about 18km (60,000ft) and then it switches on autopilot and satellite communication. The structure of the plane uses ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre material and the plane propels it self using solar power, generated by amorphous silicon solar arrays, which are glued all over the Zephyr wings and are not any thicker than a sheet of paper. Going through the night, the propellers are powered from lithium-sulphur batteries which are recharged during day time.

Well this is all very nice, being in the air for three consecutive days, but still everyone wants to use it for military purposes. When it comes to that, it seems that all technological advancements came first for military purposes. Even the most popular Internet. Why cant we just put a couple of seats on to it, and glide through the night and day watching the sun goes up and down?

Nevertheless one hot wink for Zephyr and innovation on solar power field.