Latest Payerne Stories

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The Solar Impulse HB-SIA prototype of Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg has been scheduled to depart Toulouse-Francazal airport for its final flight home to Payerne, Switzerland for tomorrow, 24 July 2012 at 7 a.m. (local time). If all goes as planned, the HB-SIA, piloted by Piccard, should arrive in Payerne on the evening of 24 July at around 8 p.m. (local time). When Piccard lands in Payerne it will complete the first ever...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The Solar Impulse aircraft of Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg landed safely in Toulouse, France yesterday (July 17) evening at 9:46 p.m. (local time). Yet, with only one more leg to go to complete their historic 2012 journey, the duo have postponed that flight, which was scheduled to lift off today for Payerne, until further notice. Strong winds and turbulence around the area of Jura makes it near impossible to make a safe...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The final leg of Bertrand Piccard’s and Andre Borschberg’s 2012 Solar Impulse Project has been given the go despite the challenging weather forecast over the next several days, which could force the team to make a pit stop in Toulouse before returning home to Payerne, Switzerland. The flight is scheduled to lift off Tuesday morning July 17 at 5:30 a.m. (local time) with Piccard at the helm. The team is unsure if it will be...

UPDATE Solar Impulse took off from Rabat-Sale International Airport (Morocco) at 6:17 (local time) July 6. The plane, piloted by Bertrand Piccard, should land in Madrid-Barajas airport in Spain around 12:30 a.m. (local time) on July 7. Once the plane arrives in Madrid, a few days of events will follow, before the team makes the final flight home to Payerne, Switzerland. For the main article, go here.

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The Solar Impulse team of Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg have rescheduled the second-to-last-stage flight of their journey home, a journey that has so far taken them more than 2,400 miles and across two continents flying only on the energy of the Sun. The flight from Rabat-Sale International Airport in Morocco to Madrid, Spain was originally scheduled for a 3 July liftoff, but was later postponed due to extreme high- and...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The flight of the Solar Impulse HB-SIA aircraft of Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg from Rabat-Sale International Airport in Morocco to Madrid, scheduled for July 3, 2012, has been postponed until further notice due to unexpected strong high and middle altitude winds. Piccard was to fly the solar-powered airplane over the Strait of Gibraltar at altitudes above 13,000 feet tomorrow (July 3). However the flight director made...

Switzerland's Solar Impulse aircraft made its first cross-country flight on Wednesday, a new achievement by the solar plane following a historic 24-hour flight back in July. Air traffic was stopped at Zurich international airport as the plane made touchdown after its journey from a military base in Payerne 170 miles away. During its flight it achieved altitudes of 500 to 1,000 feet and speeds close to 30 miles per hour, a spokeswoman said. "This is a training for the team, for the airport"...

The Solar Impulse team, which successfully conducted a round-the-clock flight powered only by the sun, said Tuesday it will next plan three test flights across Switzerland as it prepares the plane for longer journeys. "Solar Impulse HB-SIA, the solar-powered aircraft... will undertake three flights, Payerne-Geneva, Geneva-Zurich and Zurich-Payerne, with no fuel," the team said in a statement. The team hopes the tests will "contribute to opening a new era of aviation." The plane will first fly...