World
Round-the-world solar plane leaves Myanmar for China
Mandalay: The Solar Impulse (Si2), the solar-powered aircraft on a mission to fly around the globe without a drop of fuel, left Mandalay in Myanmar for China on Sunday on the fifth leg of its journey.
The aircraft, piloted by the Swiss project chairman Bertrand Piccard, left Mandalay at 3.36 a.m. on Sunday, and is heading for Chongqing in China, according to a report.
Leg five of the aircraft will be a long one — about 1,375 km — and is expected to take roughly 19 hours.
It will see the Si2 landing around midnight at the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.
The plan of the project team is to make a brief stop in Chongqing, and then try to reach Nanjing on the east coast of China.
This would set up the Si2 for the first of its big ocean crossings — a five-day, five-night flight to Hawaii.
Capable of flying over oceans for several days and nights in a row, the single-seater Si2, which started its journey from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on March 9, will travel 35,000 km around the world in 25 days.
Mission control will not make a decision on the Nanjing leg until late on Monday.
The decision may rest on the state of the energy reserves held in the plane’s batteries.
China’s air traffic authorities would like the aircraft to start its sixth leg before dawn. However, if the reserves are marginal then the Si2 will be held in Chongqing until the batteries can be charged.
The problem with this scenario was that poor weather had been forecast in the Chongqing region in the coming days, and if the aircraft did not leave straightaway, it could be delayed for perhaps a week, reports said.
The project team expects the circumnavigation of the globe to be completed in a total of 12 legs, with a return to the UAE in a few months’ time.
In the past month, the Si2 set two world records for manned solar-powered flight.
The first was for the longest distance covered on a single journey — that of 1,468 km between Muscat in Oman and Ahmedabad in India.
The second was for a groundspeed of 117 knots (216 kmph), which was achieved during the flight from Varanasi in India to Mandalay.
The wingspan of the aircraft is 72 metres, which exceeds that of a 747 jumbo jet airliner. It, however, weighs only 2.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to that of a small car.
The light weight of the Si2 will be critical to its success over the coming months.
So too will the performance of the 17,000 solar cells that line the top of the aircraft’s wings, and the energy-dense lithium-ion batteries that it will use to sustain night-time flying.
No solar-powered plane has ever flown around the world.
The Si2 venture is reminiscent of other great circumnavigation feats in the history of aviation, albeit fuelled ones.
In 1986, the Voyager aircraft became the first to fly around the world without stopping or refuelling. The propeller-driven vehicle took nine days to complete its journey.
Then, in 2005, the time set by Voyager was beaten by the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, a jet-powered plane, which completed its non-stop circumnavigation in just under three days.
The Si2 project aims to demonstrate the promise of clean energy.
Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.
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