Solar plane prepares for Amazon mission

By Jim Drury Student engineers from ETH Zurich are preparing to fly their world-record breaking solar plane over the Amazon rainforest. The team is fitting its AtlantikSolar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for a 400 kilometer, 12 hour, flight as it seeks to push the endurance limits of solar planes. The team broke the flight endurance world record for any aircraft below 50 kilograms by flying continuously on solar powered batteries for 81.5 hours (over four days and three nights) in Zurich.