Following a successful flight from its home base at the Payerne Aerodrome in Switzerland to Brussels just a month ago, the Solar Impulse – the world’s first long-range “hybrid” solar-powered airplane –aborted a flight halfway from Brussels to Paris on June 12, due to weather conditions.

Registered as HB-SIA Solar Impulse, the plane has a huge wingspan of 210 ft, similar to the Airbus A340, weighs 3,500 pounds and is powered by four 10-horsepower (7kW) electric motors. The aircraft has about 12,000 solar cells on its wings and horizontal stabilizer. Power from the solar cells is stored in lithium polymer batteries and used to drive 11-foot propellers turning at a speed of 200-400 RPM (revolutions per minute). Take-off speed is 35km/h and cruising speed is 111 km/h.

At the time of its first international flight, from France to Luxemburg, in May, Pilot and CEO André Borschberg had stepped out of the cockpit on his arrival – after 12 hours 59 minutes in the air, using no fuel and propelled by solar energy, alone – and commented, “It’s unbelievably exciting to land here in Brussels, at the heart of Europe, after flying across France and Luxemburg. And to fly without fuel, noise or pollution, making practically no negative impact, is a great source of satisfaction.”

The weather conditions were the primary reason for returning to Brussels this past weekend. The wet and windy conditions during the afternoon of June 12 delayed the HB-SIA take off until 18:36, which meant it did not have enough time in the sun to recharge its batteries. The cloud cover, which was greater than estimated, compounded the problem, as did the head winds and down drafts that Borschberg encountered underneath the cumulus clouds. The HB-SIA was forced to fly at a lower altitude than planned and consequently used up its batteries too quickly putting it at risk before reaching Paris.

Solar Impulse’s Flight Director, Raymond Clerc, decided to favor safety. “It isn't really a surprise, more of an illustration of how challenging this particular flight is. Under no circumstances will we take a risk. We therefore decided to return to Brussels where the technical team was awaiting the HB-SIA to land. We hope to have a weather window soon that is long enough for a safe flight to Paris.”

Borschberg said that, “We knew that it would be very difficult due to our late take-off. Because of the weather, the level of charge of the batteries went down faster than expected, and we considered that it was safer to turn back. This setback is at the heart of what Solar Impulse is all about. It is an experimental project and we therefore make attempts that aren’t necessarily always successful.” For Bertrand Piccard, the founder and chairman of Solar Impulse, “What is surprising is not so much that we had a problem last night, but that we never had one until now. The success of the first flights gave a wrong impression that things were easy.”

The aircraft had its first high flight on April 7, 2010, when it flew to an altitude of 3,937 feet in a 1.5 hour flight on battery power alone. The aircraft first flew on purely solar power, charging its batteries in flight, on May 28, 2010. On July 8, 2010 it completed the first manned 24 hour flight completely powered by solar power. The Solar Impulse team is planning to use the aircraft to circumnavigate the globe in 2012.

For Piccard, who co-piloted the first balloon to circle the world non-stop in 1999, along with Brian Jones; innovation and flight are part of his family’s folklore. His grandfather Auguste Piccard and his father, Jacques Piccard, were notable inventors and also balloonists.

The project is financed by private companies. The three main partners are Deutsche Bank, Omega SA and Solvay.  The team hopes to try another flight from Brussels to Paris this Tuesday, June 14.

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Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell