Solar plane set for round the world flight

[Lohan2008]

A plane with the top speed of a homing pigeon is set to embark on a landmark round-the-world flight using nothing but the sun's energy to power it.

http://www.msn.com/en-au/video/watch/solar-plane-set-for-landmark-round-the-world-flight/vi-AA8oRxu?ocid=mailsignout

[Camacha]

The speed of a homing pigeon is a bit misleading. Homing pigeons are actually really quick animals with some of the highest cruising/level speeds. They are topped mostly by predatory birds that drop in from above and which have evolved to catch, yes, those same fast pigeons. The speeds pigeons reach, 80 to 140 kilometres an hour, is actually roughly the range of speeds a glider flies. Most modern gliders stall out below ~80 km/h, while 140 is at the higher end of what you want to fly with gliders. You can go faster with a glider plane (up to 200-ish, but fairly dependant on make and model) but you do not want to do that for very long periods of time. Average cruising speed is about 90-110 km/h (and a bit more in contest flying trim).

That being said, I think this is a wonderful experiment. Circling the world in a fuel powered craft was quite a feat, but this is of course one better.