Solar airplane the Sunseeker II, will be flying over Europe this Spring.

Eric Lentz Gauthier of Solar Flight says, “The exact dates and destinations that the tour will cover are not set in stone right now. The first leg will be from Freidrichshafen, Germany down to Sicily and then back up to Switzerland. From there the Sunseeker will be flown over the Swiss Alps to the Austrian Dolomites and through to Slovenia. From Slovenia we will fly West through Italy again, then Southern France down to Spain.”

Eric Raymond, designer of the Sunseeker, told a German magazine, ”

With its current generation of batteries, solar cells and electronics installed in 2005, the Sunseeker II has never been forced to land before late afternoon.

The magic part begins when I near cloud base. With my batteries full, or nearly so, I switch on the motor, and climb up between the clouds, once on top, I can throttle back to fy on direct solar power in the clear, bright conditions over the clouds. Under direct solar power, the Sunseeker II is basically a one-speed airplane, fying about 18 m/s (~40 mph). When soaring conditions are present or if the batteries are used, faster speeds near 36 m/s (~80 mph) are possible. When I fnally shut off the motor, it takes hours to glide down, and the airbrakes are normally needed to get down before dark.”