British Family sets a flight record with a solar powered plane

The Cardozo family, comprising of Gilo Cardozo, 30, his brothers Cosmo, 26, and Damian, 39, along with Damian’s daughter Tilly, 17, and five other pilots set a new record with a solar powered flight. They traveled 1,242 miles from Monte Carlo to Morocco in an electric paramotor powered by the sun. The journey lasted for 15 days and took them through France and Spain and even over the shark-infested waters of the Straits of Gibraltar. The plane used electric paramotors powered by lithium polymer batteries, which were charged in rotation using 12 solar panels on top of a support vehicle.

The team took it in turns to pilot the craft, and also flew three other bioethanol-powered paramotors, covering on average 130 miles a day at a top height of 5,000 feet. While the Cardoza family flew to their destination, their friends followed them by road to till the last leg of the flight. This flight was made to raise funds for the charity Ataxia UK after three of their six children were diagnosed with the condition. The solar electric flight has raised nearly £10,000 for the charity.
[Telegraph]