Raphaël Domjan, pilot and founder of SolarStratos, and Géraldine Fasnacht, professional extreme sportswoman, achieved several historic world firsts on Saturday June 18, 2022 in Verbier! They made the first wingsuit flight from a solar plane! This spectacular performance took place under the eyes of a large audience who came to attend this aeronautical premiere. The feat achieved is the result of great preparation, a pioneering spirit, perfect knowledge of risk management and innovative technology demonstrating the potential of solar energy.
Piloted by Raphaël Domjan, SolarStratos, the experimental aircraft equipped with an electric motor, took off at 9 a.m. from Sion airport in the direction of Verbier with Géraldine Fasnacht on board. After completing a 55-minute flight, SolarStratos made its appearance at 9:55 a.m., flying silently over the majestic panorama offered by the Val de Bagnes and thus carrying out the first solar flight over Verbier.
At 10 a.m., the images transmitted live on the giant screen in the heart of the village of Verbier reflect the plane's cockpit in close-up: Géraldine Fasnacht prepares to get out of the plane dressed in her pink wingsuit and soars into the sky from the SolarStratos HB-SXA aircraft. Géraldine Fasnacht flies towards the village of Verbier and reaches the speed of 180 km/h. After a few minutes, she delicately lands in the center of Verbier where the public welcomes her to warm applause.
Spectacular successful mission for Géraldine Fasnacht and SolarStratos who realize from an electric and solar plane several world firsts:
• First wingsuit flight from an electric aircraft.
• First female parachute jump from an electric plane.
• First wingsuit flight from a solar plane.
• First parachute jump for a woman from a solar plane.
• First solar wingsuit flight.
Géraldine Fasnacht commented: “To be able to fly over my favorite playground using electric force was a magical moment! Having the chance to realize a dream alongside SolarStratos makes me happy and allows me to see that exploration is unique and remains the best way to show that it is possible!
Raphaël Domjan said: "Pushing the limits of the possible is an integral part of the SolarStratos adventure. In addition to our mission to reach the stratosphere for the first time thanks to a solar plane, we are committed to making future generations dream by showing them the potential of renewable energies thanks to a pioneering spirit. Achieving this solar flight over the Alps and these world firsts with Géraldine is incredible. Thank you to all my team, our partners and all the people who have supported us for all these years.”
Beyond these technological and human exploits, the priority objective of SolarStratos is to promote solar energy in order to protect the climate of our planet from greenhouse gases, by demonstrating that concepts and projects which seemed inconceivable Few are now possible with the technologies available today.
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