A group of aerospace engineers undergraduates from the University of Michigan have set a new world record for the longest flight ever by a fuel-cell powered plane. The plane flew for about 10 hours, 15 minutes and 4 seconds according to Gas2.com.

The team is known as SolarBubblesand they built this unmanned 2,500$ plane, to break the record of 9 hours which was recorded by Californian engineering company. Congratulations SolarBubbles, you have made it. The team called their plane Endurance and took them about 6 months to build from scratch.

These small planes are called “unmanned aerial vehicles” and usually used for military purposes, collect data and information in places unfit for human access. UAVs can be used for mapping territories, testing chemicals, exploring the environment or delivering medical supplies.

The fuel cells used were manufactured by Adaptive Materials Inc., an Ann Arbor-based company that approached SolarBubbles about working on the project. Nick Schoeps, a Michigan alum and fuel cell engineer for the company, said SolarBubbles was a good way to test out some of the company’s products.

“We have some other military contracts we’re testing it with, but we thought this would be a great opportunity to collaborate with the university and bring some students into the mix and see what we can accomplish,” he said.

You can watch the video of the plane flying on their website - Click to watch

Source – southbendtribune