Perpetual Solar Flyer Challenge

[MaverickSawyer]

Yes, the mixed storage works quite well. The reason I brought it up is because I'm running a rover through the night at top speed, and I have both storage types aboard. I'm less than an hour until sunrise, but still have plenty of battery power and over half my capacitor supply left.

EDIT: I think I have a challenger ready. I'll take it out for a spin tomorrow. For now, I need sleep.

Edited January 24, 2014 by MaverickSawyer

[MaverickSawyer]

OK, flying again... sun just dipped below the horizon behind me. Let's see what I can do with this:

EDIT: a little over 1/3 the way through the night... Looking good so far:

EDIT 2: Failed. Not enough juice, and not enough stability. Trying again later after some tweaks.

Edited January 24, 2014 by MaverickSawyer

[Flixxbeatz]

I think I have created some sort of perpetual flyer:

It can fly eternally during the day, and the results are promising for night flights.

@ OP - For the circumnavigation attempt, am I allowed to land somewhere on the way to recharge batteries in case of shortage (especially when night flying)?

Edited January 25, 2014 by Flixxbeatz

[g00bd0g]

I think I have created some sort of perpetual flyer:

http://i.imgur.com/RmYIK3h.png

It can fly eternally during the day, and the results are promising for night flights.

@ OP - For the circumnavigation attempt, am I allowed to land somewhere on the way to recharge batteries in case of shortage (especially when night flying)?

I'm sure you are joking, but just to make sure, no RTG's in the SOLAR perpetual flyer challenge

For the circumnavigation challenge, no landing en-route is allowed.

[MaverickSawyer]

OK, trying again. Going for both the Circumnavigation and the Perpetual challenges. So far, I spent a few minutes kicking around the area of the KSC getting the trim dialled in, then headed east. Currently 182 km from the KSC and 37 minutes into the flight. Pics to come.

EDIT: 2 hours, 15 minutes in, no problems yet. 3/4 of the way across the dark side of Kerbin... I've got this made!!!!

EDIT 2: Pics...

EDIT 3: I've made it to the sunlit side of Kerbin, but I'm not far enough along to begin recharging the batteries and capacitors. Hopefully that will come soon...

Edited January 25, 2014 by MaverickSawyer

[MaverickSawyer]

Mission accomplished. Pics will come after I get some sleep: I couldn't use time warp due to instability in the aircraft's design, but it DID make it through the night, and traversed a good portion of the globe as well. Then, it DID manage to fully recharge it's power supply. Again, pics are forthcoming, but I need at least 6 hours of rack time right now, so... expect them in 7ish hours at earliest.

[MaverickSawyer]

OK, here's the proof:

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Edited January 25, 2014 by MaverickSawyer