SolarStratos completes its highest solar flight
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SolarStratos completes its highest solar flight
On Sunday, the SolarStratos team successfully completed the highest solar and electric flight in its history. Pilot Raphaël Domjan managed to reach an altitude of 8,224 metres, according to the GPS data transmitted by his team. However, the world record of 9,235 metres was not beaten.
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The four-and-a-half-hour flight took place from Sion airport in canton Valais. Raphaël Domjan managed to climb to over 8,000 metres with his HB-SXA, taking advantage of the summer thermal currents, confirmed the SolarStratos communications team.
However, Domjan did not achieve his goal of becoming the first pilot to exceed an altitude of 10,000 metres. The SolarStratos team will therefore have to go back to the drawing board. Another attempt may be made in the next few days.
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With this flight to 8,224 metres above sea level – an altitude reached on the stroke of 5.25 pm – the Neuchâtel pilot has nonetheless significantly improved on his best mark of over 1,600 metres. His previous best was 6,589 metres.
“This attempt was not a simple copy and paste of the one made in the summer of 2024,” Domjan stressed before the flight. “A lot of work has been done, in particular with increased battery capacity and the new variable-pitch propeller, which is more efficient for high-altitude flights.”
Translated from French by DeepL/jdp
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