蘊翎 選編 曾真 譯注

Aircraft spotters enjoyed a rare treat as the Solar Impulse aircraft arrived in Le Bourget successfully after its fuel-free flight to the International Paris Air Show, where it is billed as one of the special guests.

在巴黎國際航空展上，被列入特別嘉賓名單的一架太陽能動力飛機在沒有使用任何燃料的情況下，順利完成飛行，降落在布歇爾機場，讓觀展的人們看到這難得的一幕。

Founders say Solar Impulse is a first, because despite being solar powered, it can also cope when the weather turns bad, making it the first plane to be able to fly day and night without requiring fuel.

發明者們說，這種飛機稱得上首創，是因為它不僅僅可以利用太陽能，而且還可以在天氣轉差的時候照樣飛行，是第一架不需要燃料就可以不分晝夜飛行的飛機。

The 12,000 solar cells integrated into the wing supply four electric motors with renewable energy and charge the 400kg lithium polymer batteries during the day, enabling the aircraft to fly at night. With an average flying speed of 70 kilometres per hour, Solar Impulse is not an immediate threat to commercial jets, which can easily cruise at more than 10 times the speed, but it will revolutionise the aviation industry.

嵌入機翼的12,000枚太陽能電池可以在白天為四組電動機提供持續的能源，同時為400 公斤重的鋰聚合物電池充電，以保證飛機能在夜間飛行。太陽能動力飛機的平均飛行時速為70公里，暫時不會對商用飛機構成威脅——后者時速很容易就達到700公里以上。但它終將帶來航空工業的革命。

Vocabulary

aviation 航空

bill 列為，列入清單

integrate 組裝，嵌入，包含

lithium polymer battery 鋰聚合物電池

（節選自《新銳空間》2011年第9期新銳視角欄目）