RC plane around the world :)

[bloody-orc]

Is this thing possible? to make one bigger plane, lets say a 5m lenght and put some solar cells on it and get it above the clouds with a bigger plane and put it folowing the Sun with pic and photo diodes. the plane is moving with el motor(s) and servos.

 

[bmcculla]

I think NASA built something like that. I looked like a giant wing with a ton of propellers on it. I think it was about 100m long though.

 

[magno_grail]

Take the radius of the earth plus the altitude you intend to fly at. Calculate the circumference in miles, divide by 24 and that is the speed you would have to fly to keep the solar panels in the sun. Flying west you have more time, east less.
Concorde could reach NY before leaving Paris (relatively speaking) flying about Mach 2, 70,000 ft. Think your solar panels can put out enough power to do that?

 

[Oznog]

It's been shown to be physically possible, but only with extremes of battery, solar cell, prop, motor, and aerodynamic technologies.

 

[samcheetah]

I think NASA built something like that. I looked like a giant wing with a ton of propellers on it. I think it was about 100m long though

yeah, i saw that one on ngc (national geographic channel). it was a great thing. but i dont think it went around the world.

well it might be possible but the costs will be huge. u will have to build a very lightweight fuselage using composite materials. then u will have to find the most lightweight and high capacity batteries. and the most efficient of solar cells. and u must have a large surface area for the solar panels. like the thing built by NASA. but then what will u do about turbulence. u know u cant predict that the weather will be calm throughout a world tour. the documentary i saw about that plane on ngc showed a really calm weather.

NASA is making alot of UAVs that last for days in the battlefield. ive seen one that even has a single jet engine :shock:

 

[Electric Rain]

I would love to hear about it if you pulled it off. Lots of solar cells would in fact be needed though. And it will take a long time. It would be cool if you could put a GPS transmitter in it. Then you could track it's location from your computer. Man, that'd be cool. But that would of course consume even more power. Which is your biggest problem at the moment.

Rain

 

[Electric Rain]

Also, it might get shot down somewhere around North Korea. :lol: