New Solar Plane Flies Like a Falcon
Falcon Solar Concept Under Development in Hungary
There is a global quest to develop solar-powered, zero-emissions, sustainable passenger planes. One of the most promising and fascinating concepts of this decade is Falcon Solar being developed in Hungary. The aircraft is shaped like a falcon to capture the bird's agile aerodynamics in flight. The designer, Laszlo Nemeth of Lasky Design in Budapest, Hungary is inspired by the aerodynamic lessons to be learned from powerful birds of prey, like the falcon, in flight. That belief in inspiration from Nature provided the genesis of Nemeth's remarkably innovative, solar-powered, electric passenger plane concept. Nemeth believes that technology is sufficient to allow us to fly on solar power and that solar passenger planes "could be a reality before self-driving cars".
New Sustainable Aviation
Falcon is a breakthrough in aviation design. It is slightly similar to the delta wing aircraft used by the military and also SSTs like Concorde but goes way beyond them. It has unusual, curved wings and an elegant, bird like fuselage. The concept plane aims to combine the efficiency of a falcon in flight with high speeds. Nemeth says that both the unique wings and fuselage generate significant lift. They also provide a huge surface for the solar panels to soak up the sun and power the plane. Falcon Solar is going through testing for computational fluid dynamics optimization. Upcoming test flights on a scaled model will focus on long duration travel, speed and then utilization of fully automatic aerial recharging.
The Sky is the Limit
The Falcon Solar team is aiming high. They are designing the solar aircraft to fly very high above the weather in the jet stream and above high winds to optimize its efficiency. Nemeth believes that propellers would enable the plane to gently descend to the ground in the evenings. Finally, he's working on an intriguing idea to recharge the plane in flight. The concept is to tap into the huge amounts of electrical energy in the air, clouds and even lightning, which is an electrifying thought.
Progress is Being Made on Solar-Powered Planes
The quest for solar-powered planes goes back to 1975 with the first test flights. Since then, there have been some recent successes in the past few years. Solar Impulse 2 completed a trip around the world in 2016. It took 14 months and covered 25,000 miles with 550 of those miles in the air. Also, Solar Flight Inc.'s Sunseeker Duo flew successfully across the US and over the Alps. It's now being upgraded with new avionics and tech for longer ranges. Now, Falcon is also a key solar passenger plane concept to watch develop. It is a visionary look at the future of zero-emissions, sustainable flying.
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