(no subject)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese students succeeded on Sunday in making a manned flight in a plane powered only by household batteries.
The group from the Tokyo Institute of Technology flew the plane a distance of 1,283 feet at an airfield north of the capital, in what was the first such battery-powered flight, said a spokesman for Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the project's sponsors.
The plane, with a 31-meter wing span but weighing just 44 kg, was piloted by a 63-kg student for the trip, which lasted about one minute.
The power was provided by 160 AA batteries.
"I didn't think it would fly so beautifully," said one of the students involved.
The team is hoping to have the flight recognized as a record by the Japan Aeronautic Association, the spokesman said.
But that's not all. The team has other plans. "We hope to make it transform from a robot into a plane next time" said another student, "but we'll need about twice as many batteries for that."
The group from the Tokyo Institute of Technology flew the plane a distance of 1,283 feet at an airfield north of the capital, in what was the first such battery-powered flight, said a spokesman for Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the project's sponsors.
The plane, with a 31-meter wing span but weighing just 44 kg, was piloted by a 63-kg student for the trip, which lasted about one minute.
The power was provided by 160 AA batteries.
"I didn't think it would fly so beautifully," said one of the students involved.
The team is hoping to have the flight recognized as a record by the Japan Aeronautic Association, the spokesman said.
But that's not all. The team has other plans. "We hope to make it transform from a robot into a plane next time" said another student, "but we'll need about twice as many batteries for that."