#flight level

Here’s a close up of the table stuck in the middle:

A few explanations if you feel a bit lost with the aviation jargon:

FL220 = flight level 22,000 feet

SG = solar generators

POH = pilot operating handbook 

The priorities for a flight on a global level are:

Energy

Pilot Health

Cockpit Maintenance / Housekeeping

On board, the pilot uses a similar checklist covering all necessary tasks. Red bullets indicate tasks which are a must according to the Pilot Operating Handbook. This allows the pilot to make sure he’s performed all mandatory checks.

Sleeping 

Seeing as the pilot is alone in the cockpit and has no auto-pilot, how the heck does he manage to sleep? Easy (or so to speak): he takes 20-minute naps six to eight times a day. The cockpit seat is fully reclinable so he can actually lie down. Bertrand uses self hypnosis while André prefers meditation to reach deep sleep quickly. Meanwhile, the stabilizer stabilizes the plane (oh really…) and wakes the pilot up if it tilts more than 3°, thanks to vibrating cuffs placed on his upper arms. The Mission Control Center can also wake him up with an alarm if for some reason he needs to retake control of the plane.

Eating 

2.5 L of water and 1.8 kg of food are embarked on Solar Impulse for each day of flight. But it’s not just any food. It was developed by the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, and is specifically tailored to the pilot’s needs. 

Have a look at our Insider at Nestlé’s lab to understand how they pick the ingredients and make the food portions as light as possible.

Exercising

The cockpit is too small to run around or do push-ups but the pilot can still push back his seat and do stretching exercises. Otherwise who knows what state we’d find him in after several days of flight…

Doing what must not be named 

All you need to know is in this video…