Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
working to develop a hybrid aircraft to deliver critical cargo to cut-off places. The solarship gains lift from both buoyant gas and
aerodynamics
Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dy ...
, and uses power from solar panels. The aircraft is a new concept of transport that does not rely on fossil fuels or ground infrastructure.
History
The concept behind Solar Ship was based on
airship
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
In early ...
s and the Canadian bush plane, and was devised by Jay Godsall in 1983. In 2006, Solar Ship Inc. was officially established.
Aircraft
The solarship's wing-ship design allows for extreme short takeoff and landing (XSTOL or eSTOL), such as in a soccer field. Its design provides a large surface area for solar electric power, allowing long, self- sufficient range. Solarships can also be powered by traditional combustion when solar energy is unavailable. However, the goal is to develop a new mode of transportation that does not depend on fossil fuels, roads, or runways. The solarship can access areas where planes, trucks, ships, and airships cannot, delivering cargo to the places that are currently cut off from the benefits of the connected world. Each solar plane is designed and built to the requirements of a mission. Currently, there are three initial missions with specific requirements: the Wolverine, the Caracal, and the Nanuq. Solar Ship's active mission, as of December 2015, is Mission Burundi.
Incidents
On August 29, 2014, a prototype aircraft owned, designed, and operated by Solar Ship crashed during a test flight in a tobacco field near Brantford Airport, seriously injuring its two pilots, Mark Taylor and Mark Marshall. One of the pilots had to be cut out of the aircraft by rescuers. The incident resulted in the temporary closure of Brantford Airport.