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André Borschberg (born December 13, 1952) is a Swiss entrepreneur, explorer, pilot, and professional speaker. He is the co-founder and CEO of Solar Impulse.[1] In July 2016, he co-piloted and completed the first manned solar flight to circumnavigate the Earth.[2]
André Borschberg FRSGS | |
|---|---|
 Borschberg in 2011 | |
| Born | 13 December 1952 |
| Education | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, MS 1976 MIT Sloan, MS 1983 |
| Known for | Completed the first round-the-world solar flight and the longest solo flight in an airplane of any kind: 117 hours and 52 minutes |
| Awards | 14 FAI world records |
| Aviation career | |
| Famous flights | Longest solo solar flight ever in aviation history from Nagoya to Hawaii |
| Air force | Swiss Air Force |
Borschberg is the co-founder and executive chairman of H55, a company that developed electric propulsion technology for the aviation industry[3] and serves as a member of the World Economic Forum Community of Experts.[4]
Borschberg holds several world records for his work on Solar Impulse, a solar-powered plane. On July 7th, 2010, he completed the first 24-hour solar-powered flight, setting the records for the longest manned solar-powered flight and the greatest height reached by a solar aircraft.[5] During the Japan-to-Hawaii leg of the flight, Borschberg flew non-stop for 117 hours and 52 minutes, breaking Steve Fossett’s 2006 world record for longest solo flight in an airplane of any kind.[6]
Borschberg holds 14 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world records, including: free distance along a course, straight distance, and the longest solo flight in a fixed-wing aircraft of any kind.[7]
For his role in delivering and piloting Solar Impulse, Borschberg was jointly awarded the Mungo Park Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 2018, with Bertrand Piccard.[8]
Early life and education
editAndré Borschberg was born on December 13, 1952, in Zürich, Switzerland. He holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and another in management science from the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[4] He also holds professional certifications in Financial Management and Business Management from HEC Lausanne.
Career
editBorschberg trained to be a pilot in the Swiss air force, flying Venoms, then Hunters and Tigers for over 20 years.[9] He has professional airplane and helicopter pilot's licenses, and does aerobatics.
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Borschberg worked as a consultant at the strategy and management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company.
He initially went into partnership with the venture capital company Lowe Finance. With a technical team from EPFL, he co-founded Innovative Silicon, a company that produced a novel type of DRAM but is now defunct.[10]
Solar Impulse
editBorschberg holds a management and engineering position at Solar Impulse and is also a pilot for the company.[11]
Solar Impulse 1 missions
editOn July 7th, 2010, André Borschberg flew the Solar Impulse airplane for 26 hours,[12] the first flight through both day and night using only solar energy.
Solar Impulse HB-SIA, piloted by André Borschberg, completed three international flights during the European campaign: Payerne to Brussels on 13 May (630 km), Brussels to Paris–Le Bourget on June 14th (395 km), and Paris-Le Bourget to Payerne on July 3rd (426 km).
Solar Impulse, piloted alternately by André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, made its first intercontinental flight in 2012 from Switzerland (Payerne) to Madrid, and then on to Morocco.[13]
Solar Impulse completed the historic crossing of the United States over a 2-month period in the summer of 2013. Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the two pilots, flew from San Francisco to New York, stopping over in cities along the way.[14]
With the goal of the world's first solar-powered round-the-world flight initiated on March 9th, 2015, Solar Impulse claimed, "these flights have provided good learning opportunities in terms of slotting the solar aircraft into international air space and landing at international airports."[15]
FAI world records
editBorschberg has been awarded at least 8 FAI world records[7] flying with Solar Impulse: free distance, free distance along a course, straight distance, straight distance predeclared waypoints, distance along a course, duration, absolute altitude, gain of height. These records were achieved during 3 flights, taking place in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
Solar Impulse 2 missions
editIn 2015 and 2016, Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard piloted Solar Impulse 2, completing the first-ever solar-powered flight around the world.[16]
During one of the 17 legs of the flight, from 28 June to 3 July 2015, Borschberg flew Solar Impulse 2 between Nagoya and Kalaeloa, Hawaii for a duration of 4 days, 21 hours, and 52 minutes,[17] breaking the record of the longest solo flight previously held by Steve Fosset.
Objectif Soleil
editIn 2017, Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard released an autobiographical book titled Objectif Soleil, about their experience through the Solar Impulse project.[18][19]
H55
editIn early 2017, Borschberg co-founded the Swiss tech start-up H55, based in Sion. H55 is a technological spinoff of Solar Impulse. The company develops and sells electric propulsion technologies to aircraft manufacturers.[20]
In 2017 the company launched its first aircraft, the Aerol,[21][22] followed by the BRISTELL Energic in 2019.[23]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Solar Impulse - Infocards". aroundtheworld.solarimpulse.com. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ Damian Carrington. "Solar plane makes history after completing round-the-world trip". The Guardian.
- ^ "The H55 Story". H55. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ a b www.lasourisverte.ch, La Souris Verte-. "CEO, co-founder, pilot of Solar Impulse". Solar Impulse. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
- ^ Alan Cowell (8 July 2010). "Solar-Powered Plane Flies for 26 Hours". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
- ^ McCormick, Rich (2 July 2015). "Solar Impulse 2 breaks the world record for the longest solo flight". The Verge. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Records | World Air Sports Federation". www.fai.org. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ "Mungo Park Medal". The Royal Scottish Geographical Society. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ "Ten years ago, Borschberg flew up to 9235m onboard Solar Impulse | World Air Sports Federation". FÉDÉRATION AÉRONAUTIQUE INTERNATIONALE. 1 July 2020.
- ^ "Les Z-RAM d'Innovative Silicon répondent aux attentes des fabricants de mémoires en terme de tension et de substrat". electronique-mag.com (in French). Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ "The H55 Story". H55. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ "Solar Impulse completes 24-hour flight". The Guardian. Associated Press. 8 July 2010. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ "Bertrand Piccard; Explorer, c'est aller au delà des évidences", L'Express, 1 August 2012, pp. 6–9.
- ^ "Solar Impulse plane completes US journey in New York". BBC News. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Aviation, Asian (2 September 2011). "Solar Impulse gathers support around Europe". Asian Aviation. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ "Solar Impulse completes historic round-the-world trip". BBC News. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Emma Howard, "Solar Impulse lands in Hawaii after a longest non-stop solo flight in history", The Guardian, Friday 3 July 2015 (page visited on 5 July 2015); FAI, [1] (page visited on Wednesday 8 July 2015).
- ^ "Solar Impulse, les coulisses de l'exploit". Le Parisien. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017..
- ^ Interview by Isabelle Hennebelle (17 February 2017). "Solar Impulse: "1000 solutions pour un monde durable"". lexpress.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2017..
- ^ "H55 livrera ses systèmes de propulsion électrique début 2022". Air et Cosmos (in French). 16 June 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ Adams, Eric (27 April 2017). "Want Electric Airplanes? Try Starting Small and Boring". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ www.lasourisverte.ch, La Souris Verte-. "CEO, co-founder, pilot of Solar Impulse". Solar Impulse. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ "An Aviation Pioneer Goes All In on Electric Planes". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 21 July 2020.