André Borschberg, one of two men to fly around the world in a solar-powered plane, launched a new company called H55.
When André Borschberg started flying as a 15 year old, he didn’t worry about how much fuel he had to burn to get and stay aloft. These days, it’s pretty much all he thinks about. It has been three years since Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard completed an around-the-world journey in Solar Impulse 2, the sun-powered plane that could stay aloft for days at a time. That aircraft was remarkable but impractical: It had the wingspan of a Boeing 747, but maxed out around 90 mph and its cockpit was so cramped that the pilots (who alternated legs of the journey) used a toilet built into the seat.
Now Borschberg has started a new company called H55, and created a new aircraft to flip that equation around. H55’s first plane has room for two and can stay aloft for just about 90 minutes. Where Solar Impulse was a unique flying machine, this one, the Bristell Energic, is a modified version of an aircraft made by the Czech Republic’s BRM Aero. And where Solar Impulse was meant as an over-the-top demonstration of what electric technology can do, the Energic is a training plane, designed to help people learn to fly in the first place.
Written by Alex Davies
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