Solar plane flies nonstop for a week

by Sean McLachlan on


We recently reported on the historic flight of the Solar Impulse, the first solar-powered plane to fly through the night. Now another barrier has been broken. The Zephyr solar plane has flown nonstop for seven days.

Unlike the Solar Impulse, which carried a pilot, the Zephyr is an unmanned drone built by the UK defense firm Qinetiq. Drones have seen extensive service in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years but are hampered by the need to return for refueling and thus losing sight of targets. Drones that never need to land have an obvious advantage. The civilian potential is obvious too, with researchers already thinking up applications for using them for scientific observation.

This development also marks another step forward for potential solar-powered commercial flight. The Zephyr has solar cells along its 22.5 meter (74 ft) wingspan that drive the propellers and fill batteries that are robust enough to power the plane from sunset to sunrise. Will we one day see solar-powered commercial flights? It may be a long way off, but considering the rapid pace of technological change, it’s unwise to say that anything is impossible.

The Zephyr is still in the air near the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona and its support team plans to leave it flying for another week.

Tour operator Goldtrail goes bankrupt, strands 16,000

by Sean McLachlan on

UK company Goldtrail Travel Ltd announced it had gone bankrupt at 4pm yesterday. The revelation, made just an hour before the end of the work week, has left the travel plans of thousands of customers in doubt. About 16,000 customers are already abroad on Goldtrail flights and package tours, mostly in Turkey and Greece.

Goldtrail operates under the names Goldtrail Holidays, Goldtrail Travel, and Sunmar.

While flights returning this weekend and Monday will operate as normal, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority is left to pick up the slack for the remaining passengers. All outbound Goldtrail flights have been canceled. You can read the CAA’s statement about the failure, and advice to those affected, here.

The number for the CAA helpline in the UK is 0844 856 2585. Customers outside the UK should call 0044 203 441 0846.

Brit travel abroad plunged: blame the business travelers

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The homes in Britain must be incredibly cozy – because nobody left them. Travel from the UK fell to its lowest levels since the 1970s, thanks to the hangover from the September 2008 financial crisis. The number of people crossing a border dropped 15 percent year-over-year, with only 58.6 million visits abroad taking place.

As usual, the business traveler is stuck with the blame for this. Cell phone-toting, laptop-wielding road warriors in the UK allowed travel to plummet almost 25 percent from 2008 to 2009. Now, it’s not just that travel budgets got a little tighter. You also need to keep in mind that hefty layoffs thinned the herd of potential business travelers.

[photo by Dimitry B via Flickr]

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk – LAX to Rome in style

by Stephen Greenwood on

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk, episode 23 – Click above to watch video after the jump

Travel Talk is going international for the first time – and we’re doing it in style! Last month, we had the chance to cover Alitalia’s inaugural flight from LAX to Rome to see how the airline is reinventing itself as a private company.

On the couch, we’ll discuss national airlines and the advantages that they have over the competition, and what led to the original Alitalia’s bankruptcy. When in Rome, we’ll be sharing the classic highlights of the city as well as a few less well known points of interest – so kick back, enjoy the ride, and get ready to explore Rome!

If you have any questions or comments about Travel Talk, you can email us at talk AT gadling DOT com.

Subscribe via iTunes:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
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Links
Are you familiar with the national carriers of every country? Check out the list here.


Hosts: Aaron Murphy-Crews, Stephen Greenwood

Produced, Edited, and Directed by: Stephen Greenwood, Aaron Murphy-Crews, Drew Mylrea

Restless natives refused entry, opportunity to beat up English on home turf

by Andrew Evans on



After days of travel document bureaucracy and Homeland Security snafus, the 23-member Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team has still been refused boarding flights and denied entry into the United Kingdom based on the explanation that their yellow Iroquois Nation passports are not internationally recognized. Never mind that the Haudenosaunee Confederacy passports have been used to travel outside of the United States since 1977, never mind that her majesty Hilary Clinton issued her very special Secretary of State magic wand blessing over the team so that they could travel on their passports “just this once”, the British border agency still insists the team arrive in Manchester, England carrying either a United States or Canadian passport. (How shocking that of all people, it’s the British who would be sticklers for rules.)

But in all the media hubbub that’s followed, nobody’s pointing to the obvious: the Iroquois Nationals were scheduled to play the English team this very evening (July 15th), however as of this morning, they were forced to forfeit the game, granting all points to the English team, (not unlike much of history.) That the people who invented the game of lacrosse are being denied access to the world championships held in the same country that once tried to divide and conquer their people has more irony than some long-running British sitcom. When asked to explain exactly why the Iroquois lacrosse team (with travel passes issued by the American Secretary of State) was still denied entry to England, the British Embassy in Washington, DC referred to the following statement from the UK Border Agency:

“We would be pleased to welcome the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team but like all those seeking entry into the UK, they must present a valid immigration document that we recognise as valid to enable us to complete our immigration and other checks . . . The [Iroquois] passport does not have security features you would expect from a modern international travel document. There are no encryption devices, no holograms, etc. They are paper and would be relatively easy to recreate.”

One would think that this whole fiasco might be resolved simply by the US State department issuing a list of cleared names to the UK government. In their recently released statement, the UK says they are in the process of further discussion with the US Authorities to resolve this situation.

The Iroquois Confederacy consists of over 125,000 people who live in the United States and Canada. Another fun fact: Haudenosaunee means “people of the long house.”